The waiting is over, it’s time for action

• Action starts in Mombasa city centre before heading off to the Vipingo Ranch for spectator stage

After months of preparing, drivers and their rally cars will finally be on the road for the start of the 2009 Kenya Airways East African Safari Classic Rally set to start on Sunday morning from the centre of Mombasa town.

It will be followed by real action at a spectator stage to be run on the Vipingo Ranch later in the afternoon.

Cars of the olden-days will be in the full view of the spectators who are expected to fill up at the venue which hosted the final round of the 2009 KCB Kenya National Rally Championship. More are expected to line up along the rally routes on both sides of Kenya and Tanzania over the next nine days of real action.

Drivers will return to White Sands Hotel for an overnight halt before preparing to leave for a long journey lasting nearly nine days over a not so forgiving terrains along the 4500km-route.

The first car will leave the White Sands Hotel at 6.30am Monday morning before heading for the Vipingo Stage for the second time in as many days.

Cars will then head for the second competitive stage of the day at Mackinon Road where the first car will be expected at 9.52am. Shelembwa will be the final stage of the day (11.23am) before cars head for the service park and for the night rest halt at the Taita Hill Lodge.

The second day’s action will move to Tanzania where Arusha will be the host for the event for the next two days.

Ian Duncan, vying for his second attempt at the marathon rally at the wheels of a Ford Mustang, is the leading Kenyan driver in the list of international drivers from as far as Australia, America, Belgium, France, Sweden, Netherlands, Tanzania, South Africa, Italy, Switzerland and England.

The 1994 Safari Rally winner will be part of the larger number of crews whose intent is to successfully tackle the “World’s Greatest Classic Car Rally’’.

Kenya won the event twice in a row in 2003 and 2005 at the hands of Rob Collinge in a Datsun 260Z respectively before losing the grip to Waldegaard in 2007 at the wheels of a Ford Escort RS2000. The Swede will attempt to defend the title in a Porsche 911.

Aziz Tejpar, who last rallied in Kenya in 1989 before moving to England, has entered a Ford Escort.

“It is one event I must do before I die. It is going to be difficult time over the next 10 days but that is where the fun is going to be,’’ joked Tejpar.

Re-union

Tejpar added: “The plan is to keep moving until one drops down. We have a disadvantage of driving without power steering but no worries. It will be a reunion with my old navigator who last sat with me over 20 years ago.’’

Tejpar will be navigated by Andy Nagi, a familiar name in the KNRC series as a former navigator and lately as a renowned rally organizer.

Meanwhile, mention the East African Safari Rally and it is not long before the name of five times winner of that world famous event, Shekhar Mehta, crops up.

Sadly Shekhar passed away two years ago, but his presence at the 2003 and 2005 Safari Classic rallies did much to help them establish the present status of the Kenya Airways East African Safari Classic Rally, a major international rally set to hit headlines from Monday onwards.

Shekhar’s spirit will certainly be present at the 2009 Safari Classic. His five Safari wins were all obtained in Datsuns and it is thus no surprise to know that these cars outnumber the other marques on the Safari Classic. Of the forty-six entries, Datsuns ocoupy the highest number of rally cars in the list of those cars ready to start take part in the rally.

Shekhar wife Yvonne Mehta has also kept close touch the Classic Safari Rally having visited on numerous occasions.

Former Kenya national champion, Jayant Shah of Tanzania will contest the event for the fourth consecutive time with Loft Drews who is based in Australia. They will be driving a Datsun 260Z.

Joey Ghose, who navigated Sammy Aslam to the finish of the 1994 Safari Rally, will drive a Datsun 1600sss for the first time since moving to England over a decade ago.

After the start from Mombasa, the crews’ first stop will be at the Taita Hills Lodge. From here drivers will tackle more competitive stages leading to Arusha for the end of the second day competition. The third and fourth day action will be based around Arusha.

The sixth day action will see cars visit stages through Kajiado and Ngong leading to Naivasha thus disconnect Nairobi from this year’s route plans.

Naivasha will host the seventh and eighth day respectively before heading back to Taita Hills via Ngong and Kajiado. The final day will see crews move back to Mombasa in time for the prize-giving ceremony.

Access Kenya will continue to provide internet services which are considered vital to the success of the running of the internationally renowned outfit especially on the media related programmes both in print and electronic stations.