21 cars enter East African Safari Classic Rally

Vivo Energy's Yvonne, Classic Safari directors Sarman Vohra, Raju Kishinani and Vivo Energy Marketing Manager Mark Senteu and his crew Sharon Bachia and Mwangi Kabeberi during the launch at the Panafric Hotel. PHOTO | ANWAR SIDI |

By  Abdul Sidi

What you need to know:

  • Organisers announced on Friday that 21 cars had entered the 2019 edition of the classic long distance event
  • The list was released in Nairobi during the official launch of the event
  • The final stage will be raced at the Mombasa Cement on December 6 where the first car will be due at 12 noon

Crews can now begin earnest preparations for the 2019 Safaricom East African Safari Rally Classic following completion of the final route check and confirmation of the entry list.

Organisers announced on Friday that 21 cars had entered the 2019 edition of the classic long distance event. The list was released in Nairobi during the official launch of the event.

The list contains a mixture of local and international drivers. Kenya is represented by seven drivers led by ace Ian Duncan, Baldev Chager and Carl Tundo. Previous winner Stiq Blomqvist leads a team of three crews from Sweden.

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The Safaricom Mobile Network also confirmed its sponsorship deal for the latest edition of the Safari Classic Rally.

“We are happy to partner EA Safari Classic Rally for another edition. We had pumped in around Sh30m in the previous rounds of the event though we are now putting another Sh12m this time round,” said Mpesa Safaricom director Sitoyo Lopokoiyit.

Other sponsors included the representatives of the Bidco Africa and Vivo Energy.

The Safaricom-sponsored event will start from the Whitesands Hotel in Mombasa on November 28 with the first car to be flagged off at 7am.

The final stage will be raced at the Mombasa Cement on December 6 where the first car will be due at 12 noon.

The rally will run over nine days in Kenya and Tanzania with one rest day. Missing a time control attracts a penalty of 30 minutes. Each crew will be allowed two hours service time at the end of every day’s racing.

ENTRY LIST

1. Carl Tundo/Tim Jessop (Triumph TR7 Kenya)

2. Baldev Chager/Ravi Soni (Porsche 911 Kenya)

3. Stig Blomqvist/Jorgen Fornander (Porsche 911 Sweden)

4. Geoff Bell/Tim Challen (Datsun 260Z South Africa)

5. Ian Duncan/Anthony Nielsen (Rover Vitesse Kenya)

6. Onkar Rai/Gareth Dawe (Porsche 911 Kenya)

7. Tejvir RAI/Gavin Laurance (Porsche 911 Kenya)

8. Kris Rosenberger/Nicola Bleicher (Porsche 911 Austrian)

9. Philip Kadoorie/Ryan Champion (Porsche 911 Britain)

10. Aslam Khan/Farhaaz Khan (Porsche 911 Kenyan)

11. Kris Rosenberger/Nicola Bleicher (Porsche 911 Austria)

12. Eugenio Amos/Robert Mometti (Porsche 911 Italy)

13. Jayant Shah/Arshard Khan (Porsche 911 Tanzanian)

14. Gilberto Sandretto/Fabrizia Pons (Porsche 911 Italy)

15. Joey Ghose/Stephane Prevot (Nissan 240RS Oman)

16. Rommy Bhamra/Harvey Jutley (Datsun 280Z Kenya)

17. Bernhard Kessel/Ronny Kessel (Porsche 911 German)

18. Joe Hayes/Kate Hayes (Porsche 911 America)

19. Trey Lockey/JuliaSvensson (Porsche 911 Sweden)

20. Renee Brinkerhoff/Juliette Brinkerhoff (Porsche 356 America)

21. Scott Armstrong/Harpal Singh Sudle (Datsun 160J British).

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