Rain, mud, burst river all in a day as Blomqvist takes leads

The opening day of the eighth edition of the East African Safari Classic Rally action on Thursday brought back memories of the old competition when stages were wet and slippery though drivers made the effort to forge ahead with poor conditions as part of the customary rules.

Reigning Classic Rally champion, Stiq Blomqvist took the overnight lead followed by the Triumph TR7 of Carl Tundo and his Kabras team-mate Baldev Chager driving a Porsche.

The Classic Rally action was marred by a burst river bank on as drivers headed for the rest halt at the Amboseli Lodge on Thursday.

The former Kenya champion Baldev Chager is making his debut on the driving seat after navigating former Kenya National Division Two Champion Onkar Rai on the last two editions.

Onkar is lying seventh in yet another Kabras-entered Porsche while the Cementers Team of Ramesh Vishram is lying 10th in his Ford Escort Mark2.

Organisers had to cut short the first stage of Thursday’s action as leading cars got stranded in the opening section of the competition.

The third stage of the marathon rally was cancelled due to loss of adequate time in the opening wet section. Thus Stage Two was the only section to be run clear.

Earlier in the day, Hassan Joho flagged off the 30 cars at Sarova Whitesands as the race headed to Amboseli National Park.

Team Tido’s Blomqvist was the first off the ramp at 6am followed by local drivers Carl “Flash” Tundo, Baldev Singh Chager and Ian Duncan.

Among the common drivers who went over the ramp was 74-year-old Tanzanian oldie Jayant Shah, one of East Africa’s most accomplished rally drivers and a legend of the old Safari Rally.

The Classic Rally Rules allow drivers to miss a maximum of four full days collectively or individually with penalties as specified in these regulations and still re-join the rally.

Any driver exceeding four days will not be classified. Drivers are also permitted to miss any competitive section for the penalty as laid down in these regulations.

Shell-sponsored Somen and Hechle are the former Kenyan National Classic champions, who are among the survivors of the first day of the current competition. The all-Kenyan crew has done three Classics and this year will be their fourth. 

“This rally represents another milestone in the future of motor sport in Kenya. We applaud the organizers and the drivers and urge all Kenyans at large to come out and enjoy this rare showing of classic cars racing,’’ said Mark Senteu, Marketing and Customer Care Manager of Vivo Energy Kenya.

DAY ONE PROVISIONAL RESULTS (excluding service penalties)

1. Stig Blomqvist/ Mattias Edielsson - 98:53

2. Carl Tundo Tim Jessop - 101:11 

3. Baldev Singh Chager / Ravi Soni - 105:40 

4. Richard Jackson/ Ryan Champion- 105:55

5. Raaji Bharij Rajay Sehmi - 106:20 

6. Frank Tundo Gavin /Laurence - 110:35

7. Onkar Singh Rai /Gareth Dawe - 112:51 

8. Roger Samuelsson /Robin Friberg - 114:13 

9. Jonathan Somen /Richard Hechle -  114:34 

10. Ramesh Vishram /Riyaz Ismail - 117:56 

11. Geoff Bell/ Tim Challen- 120:44 

12. Nick Mason /Crispin Sassoon - 122:15 

13. Joseph Huber /Yves Huber - 126:48 

14. Dinesh Sachania/ Feisal Khan - 133:50 

15. Simon Connolly /Jonathan Connolly- 146:49 

16. Tejveer Singh/ Rai Zahir Shah - 149:20 

17. Stefano Rocca/ Piers Daykin - 156:14 

18. Tim Mammen /Keith Henrie - 169:34 

19. Pawel Molgo / Piotr Domownik - 178:23 

20. Iain Freestone/ Phil Squires - 179:44 

21. Jan Hagman / Christer Carlsson - 189:59

22. Scott Armstrong/ Harpal Sudle- 195:00 

23. Ian Duncan/ Amaar Slatch - 213:02 

24. Bernhard Kessel / Ronny Kessel - 222:01

25. Tim Chesser /Jonathan Pollen - 225:28 

26. Rommy Bamrah / Harvey Jutley - 225:41 

27. Nish Lakhani / Teeku Patel - 236:17 25