It’s like old times – rally enthusiasts have long regarded the East African Safari Rally as the greatest of all rallies as it offers some of the most spectacular roads and variety of conditions.
Now in its eighth year the East African Safari Classic Rally for pre-1974 cars, is proving to be as tough and glamorous as the original WRC events that ran for more than four decades. The 2011 Safari Classic started on Sunday in Mombasa, Kenya and after two days of tough conditions, including mud holes where many competitors got stuck, Bjorn Waldegård and his son Mathias Waldegård are leading the event in a Porsche 911 prepared by Tuthill Porsche in the UK and sponsored by the Race4Change charity. They set fastest time on the last stage today.
The Safari is one rally that has never been won by a Porsche; consequently Porsche fans have high hopes that will change this year. Indeed there are eight Porsche 911s running in the top ten positions at present so the odds are looking good for the record books to be changed.
Last year’s winner, Ian Duncan, a Kenyan driving a Ford Capri, set fastest times on three of the five stages but only lies in third position overall, two minutes behind the leader. Despite not winning any stages, Gregoire De Mevius from Belgium, also driving a 911, is in second position.
None other than Travis Pastrana set fastest time on the second stage on the first day. He is also driving a Race4Change Porsche 911 and his co-driver is Fabrizia Pons, who made her name as one of the world’s best co-drivers when she was paired with Michelle Mouton back in the 1980s in a Group B Audi Quattro.
At the end of the day Pastrana was quite pumped. “It was a really good day. We saw zebra and the mud was an amazing adventure. The first section was very fast and the second was very technical, which was where we were fastest. In the third section we ran over a shrub which was hiding a rock and got a puncture on the front right!”
For the next week you can follow the East African Safari Rally as it winds its way through Kenya and Tanzania by checking out the event website, which includes a link to real time tracking of the cars on Google Earth.
Related posts:
- 2011 East African Safari Classic Rally – Will a Porsche 911 Finally Win?
- Travis Pastrana Going on Safari
- Porsche Rennsport Reunion IV: Classic Corkscrew View
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