EAST AFRICAN SAFARI RALLY - Major Thread Revival!!

[hatari]

First of all apologies as the event has already taken place.

However thought some of you petrol heads will be interested to get some first hand information about what happens when you take on the "Worlds Toughest Classic Rally" .... and believe me it is TOUGH! Especially when you trying to do it in a 1975 Datsun 710 Series!

Some of you are probably thinking whats so tough about that?
Well .... its held over 10 days. On average we cover around 600kms a day with one days rest. The roads are so rough they actually shake the fillings out of your teeth! The potholes are big enough to swallow cars! The River crossings deep enough to wash away cars and crew ... keep reading and you will see what I mean .... one of the navigators did get washed away this year!!

THE EAST AFRICAN CLASSIC SAFARI RALLY

The Event actually goes back to 1953! But won't bore you with those details. In 2003 it was revived again. Cars allowed to compete were anything pre 1975 - no turbos and no 4WD. Just the sound of carburetors! The event has since be a massive success and runs every two years.

Being an Ex-kenyan (Now living is Sunny Leeds! ) I had to do it! In 2003 / 2005 I went down as a Marshal. In 2007 I ended up building a Datsun 240Z and navigated for a Local Driver. It was our very first attempt at any motorsport and we dived straight into the deepend! Zero rallying experience but we managed to finish it in 36th overall position!

This was us in 2007 - Harvinder Dhanjal and Harpal Sudle (Me)



In 2009 a friend who had serviced us on the 2007 event had got the bug and decided that he wanted to do it! This time we chose a Datsun B110 - 1200cc! Yep crazy ... but guess what we managed to bring the B110 home too!!

2009 - Billy Grewal and Harpal Sudle



Fast Forward to November 2011 ..... The Choice of car a mid ranged DATSUN this time! - DATSUN 160J SSS 710 Series! Pictures to Follow!

[hatari]

2011 East African Safari Classic Rally.
Car No. 32 - Datsun P710
Crew: Kulwinder Sandhu / Harpal Sudle (Hatari)

Soon after the event I had already been approached by a Local Driver (Kulwinder) asking if I would be interested in Navigating in 2011? The obvious answer was yes. ;D This time luck would have it that I would only arrive in Kenya afew days before the event, Navigate and return. No financial stress to take on and no preparation and Logistics to arrange apart from those during the event.

Between 2010 and 2011 - saw the team acquire a Datsun 710 SSS that was a totally standard car which was built up from the shell into a car that would face the Safari Rally in Nov 2011. The car was locally prepared in Nairobi Kenya. predominately by an ex-works Nissan mechanic (Tirlochan Singh Nandra - better know as Tochi). The Shell was prepared by another local firm 'Metal Equipment'.

Brief Spec - L18 with a max output of around 165BHP. G-box - 5 Speed Dogleg pattern. Suspension was Proflex, 3 way adjustable with external gas cannisters. LSD with 4.6 ratio.
Body - fully seam welded with FIA 'approved' rollcage reinforced to the body and turrets.

Apart from the obvious rally car features, like a safety fuel tank, seats, belts etc. Everything else on the car was pretty standard but made to be 'Safari Safe'



The car was ready in April 2011 where it was tested in a few local events. It was used as a Route Opening car in readiness for the mammoth Classic Rally



November 2011 and all seemed ready for the BIG Event. 4252.6km over 9 days. I flew into Nairobi only 5 days before the event to familiarise myself with the team / car and driver!

[hatari]

Wednesday 16th November we drove the car down from Nairobi to Mombasa (kms 365), a final shake down to get rid of any gremlins. The maximum speed we got out of the 710 was a mere 153kph, on a very straight and tarmac road. Afew niggles were sorted on the way down like a trip meter that would only work when you cut the steering to the left! The worse was still to come when we hit Mombasa in peak traffic that evening. The engine started cooking and temperature was getting to over 100 degrees C. Traffic was gridlocked and we put it down to that but just to be sure parked up in a local Ken-gen fuel station and let it cool down.

Thursday 17th November - One day to Scruitneering. We just addressed the smaller issues. But the main mechanic was concerned about the overheating the day before. He said even with the Mombasa temperatures and stationary trafiice it should not have got that hot. In the meantime myself and Kulwinder had gone to Rally HQ to complete the mounds of paperwork for the 10days of rallying. Thankfully we had nailed that and nothing was missing. The boys had been left to work on the car and get it ready for tomorrows all important scrutineering. They hard run the engine again only to find the the temperature kept rising, even after changing rads, putting a bigger fan etc.



Friday 18th Nov - Scruitneering. We rolled in at 9am our time slot. Everything was going smoothly when one of the officials picked on the welding on the cage and failed us! There was almost a display of fireworks with Kulwinder and the Offical - we had no choice but to return to our hotel and redo the welding. Everything came out - seats, belts etc as the weld was on the main bar. In the meantime the head had come off the engine, to find the gasket was on its way out! The head went to the local Machining shop for a reface! All this one day b4 the rally! And we still weren't sure if the official would let the welding through!

Saturday 9am. - Offical was in a better mood and first checked Kulwinders pulse - "I just want to make sure you don't explode again" he said in his German accent. He said he was not 100% happy but we would have to sign a waiver ...we conceeded and whilst signing I thought .... God I hope we don't roll! We were signed off and before the ceremonial Start we went for a quick test run to make sure car was running okay. Temperature now checked out and never went over the 80 Degree C mark.

Saturday 1300hrs. - Ceremonial Start - The convoy of cars left Whitesands hotel to head for the 'Tusks' in Mombasa's City Centre. The safari is not without incident, on this stretch one of the Mark II fords rear wheel had come off!! Someone had forgotten to tighten the wheel nuts! With the speeches done we stood by watching the first cars leave .... it was just an array of Porches, broken with the odd Ford or Datsun 260Z's.

One of the amazingly prepared Datsun 260Z's! These where the types of cars we were up against!



Ceremonial Start - Mombasa Moi Avenue 'Tusks'



Saturday 15:32 Hrs - we took the start - the Only Datsun 710 in the line up




4165km awaited us .... this was only the start and we had already had our share of drama's!!!

[hatari]

DAY 1 - Rally Proper
Sunday 19th Nov 2011
Mombasa - Kilma Camp Total Distance of 642.5km (Competitive 292.8km)
Stage 1 was a mere 91kms! Due to the over night rains it had been shortened as there was an section of the road that had a 4km Mudhole that would have been impassable for the cars. We did this in a very slow time. But this was just the first time Kulwinder and I had been together and it was just about learning the car and getting used to each other.

HOW ABOUT THIS FOR A ROAD BOOK INSTRUCTION!? ;D



Stage 2 - 85kms through the notorious taita hills. Went without a problem but in a slow time - we just needed to get to the end of day one without breaking anything.

Stage 3 - 115.85kms! - The tables turned for us on this stage. Towards the end there was a section of black cotton soil that had become a parking lot, with the front runners stuck in the mudbath. Jayant Shah a local veteran was stuck across the road and was being towed out by one of the spectators. Kulwinder decided to take the risk and weave his way through the mud. We had already taken 5 cars that were stuck. In another 500 metres we came to another bigger stretch of road that had even more cars stuck.



We drove off the main track and on to the grass verge, There were porches dotted around and we could see there was no way through on the main track. I jumped out of the car and picked our way through the bush avoiding the main track. I was literally running along side the car. We actually did this in the 14th fastest time! As we got to Kilma just outside Amboseli national park we were already lying 23rd overall!

I was not kidding about running alongside the car and pointing to the track we needed to use! I am sure we were in someones 'shamba' (local term for farm/garden!)




PS - Incase you are wondering .... i was not taking the pictures as I was going along! ;D ;D Credit to Mcklein and Geoff Mayes and his team for the pictures!

Over Night Service was a major affair on most night halts. We were only allowed 2 hours for this and only 3 mechanics were allowed to work on the cars. Service was at Kilima Safari Camp, outside the Amboseli National Park.



Richard Arrowsmith in service (something for the Ford lovers )



One day down another 8 to go!!

[hatari]

DAY 2 - Mon 21.11.2011
Amboseli Kilima - Mount Meru Hotel Arusha (Tanzania)
547.69 Kms (Competitive 292.32)

Today we were crossing borders from Kenya to Tanzania



Stage 4 - 112kms took us from the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro to the Plains of Longido. The first 60 kms was a smooth affair as we hit the plains the tracks turned into rivers! We had got stuck for a while but managed to get out of the stage in good time.




Stage 5 - 142kms! - CANCELLED. A friend was route opening and he said "the Road just disappeared and turned into a lake!" That answers the question of why was it cancelled then

Stage 6 - 37.70kms - was one of the shortest of the event and was a very fast one but dusty! From rain tracks to dust clouds - you'd only get this in the Safari!



This was one of the other Datsuns in the competition Datsun 180B SSS ....compared to the one below! Same car - different worlds! Preet when are we entering the red one the the SAFARI?!!?! U only need to raise it a foot off the ground!! ;D ;D ;D




DAY TWO DONE!!!!

[WillCarter]

This needs moving into General, amazing story.

[hatari]

Dec 29, 2011 23:31:03 GMT WillCarter said:

This needs moving into General, amazing story.

Thanks Mate! I only just registered so was not sure where to post .... not even sure how I will move it anywhere!lol Keep reading still afew more days and even more pictures!

[WillCarter]

Reported it to the mods so they'll move it over for you, then you'll get the views you deserve.

[hatari]

DAY 3 - 22.11.2011
Mt Meru (TZ) - Mt Meru (TZ) - 536kms (260.57kms Competitive)

Today we ran in Tanzania, another three stages awaited us.

Stage 7 - 154kms!! This was a killer stage- the longest of the rally. Every time this event gets held you will never miss to hear the European Entrants saying. "One stage in the Safari is like a whole event in Europe!" ;D. It really does throw everything at you. Dust, Mud and extremely tricky navigation. We took the start early morning when it was still a little misty and by the time we got out it was blazing hot! We were fortunate enough to do this in the 16th fastest time. This brought us up in the rankings! You got to remember we were probably the most underpowered car in the line up. The Porches were running over well in excess of 280BHP and the most we got was 165!!



Stage 8 - 39kms - short but the steepest climb up the Mbulu escarpment. Here you could really tell the car was slow as two Fords passed us in such a short distance! Ian Duncan (Local Legend) in his Monster Capri (PIC below) and John Lloyd in a Mk II Escort.



Slow Climb!!!


Stage 9 - 67.33km - A relatively quick drop from the top of the Escarpment to the village of Karatu. We took it slow as in the previous stage the rear shock top mount nut had come loose. We only had a few minutes to tighten them .... last thing we wanted was one of those falling off the car!

We finished the day in one piece again without much drama. Todays overall classification was 16th overall!!

[datsfun]

Dec 30, 2011 0:33:36 GMT hatari said:

DAY 3 - 22.11.2011
Mt Meru (TZ) - Mt Meru (TZ) - 536kms (260.57kms Competitive)

Today we ran in Tanzania, another three stages awaited us.

Stage 7 - 154kms!! This was a killer stage- the longest of the rally. Every time this event gets held you will never miss to hear the European Entrants saying. "One stage in the Safari is like a whole event in Europe!" ;D. It really does throw everything at you. Dust, Mud and extremely tricky navigation. We took the start early morning when it was still a little misty and by the time we got out it was blazing hot! We were fortunate enough to do this in the 16th fastest time. This brought us up in the rankings! You got to remember we were probably the most underpowered car in the line up. The Porches were running over well in excess of 280BHP and the most we got was 165!!



Stage 8 - 39kms - short but the steepest climb up the Mbulu escarpment. Here you could really tell the car was slow as two Fords passed us in such a short distance! Ian Duncan (Local Legend) in his Monster Capri (PIC below) and John Lloyd in a Mk II Escort.



Slow Climb!!!


Stage 9 - 67.33km - A relatively quick drop from the top of the Escarpment to the village of Karatu. We took it slow as in the previous stage the rear shock top mount nut had come loose. We only had a few minutes to tighten them .... last thing we wanted was one of those falling off the car!

We finished the day in one piece again without much drama. Todays overall classification was 16th overall!!

The above captions and pictures sum up the safari for me. You get to experience all the seasons and terrians in one day ! No wonder its termed as the world's greatest rally.

Its proper rallying as it used to be in back in the days, except that the cars are much better built and spec'd.

Awesome write up BTW, are there any videos of the event on you tube already? Just so that we can salivate even more

[hatari]

DAY 4 - 23.11.2011
Mount Meru Hotel (Tanzania) - Amboseli (Kenya)
530.66km (323.72kms competitive)

Today we were going to cross back into Kenya. One stage was in Tanzania and the other two in Kenya.

Stage 10 - 124kms. The stage began with fast sweeping roads and with a surprise sting in the tail to the finish of the stage - More Mud and rivers! In all honesty there was not much that would surprise us after seeing so much mud! Apparently we still had worse to come after the rest day!




Another swift border crossing! Incidentally if you tried to cross the TZ / Kenya border at any other time it would take well over 2 hours of redtape and paperwork. For the crews it was a matter of Minutes - the organisers really had everything under control.



Stage 11 - 87kms - back to home ground! Around 60kms into the stage we came across a river crossing on the other side was the Datsun 180B, they had got stuck as they were trying to climb out on to the steep bank. There was no way on either side. We waited a while but the 180B was going nowhere. The space on the left side was too small so we got the Maasai's (Local Tribes men) to cut away the bush in an attempt to squeeze past them. In the meantime the cars behind us had already caught up and there was a queue forming! We'd lost alot of time. Kulwinder put metal to the floor, into the river, and with a inch to spare shaved past the stranded 180B on the right. He was out on the other side.

Stage 12 - 112.5kms. We tried to make up some time on this stage but managed to get stuck in the haste! Again we got the help of the locals and with some extra man power got ourselves out of the mud. Towards the end I called a Jump alittle late and that cost us a bent tie-rod end. But we managed to get to the End and into Amboseli for the overnight halt.

This is not the same jump ...but it gives you an idea what the big boys were getting UP to!!!! ;D ;D ;D




Today there was no service allowed as tomorrow was the so called 'REST DAY' and we would be allowed the day to make the repairs.

PHEW!! Rest Day ..... we had dropped two positions and our overall classification was now 18th overall.

[hatari]

Datsfun .... some youtube moments that you will probably have seen!!

[hatari]

DAY 5 - Thursday 24.11.2011
REST DAY
0.00kms

Service Park - Inside the Amboseli National Park - A local Football ground had been converted into a massive workshop! 46 cars still running each with a support car or two.

Technically a rest day - But far from it. For most of the crews its about getting the cars 'road worthy' again!! Most of the guys have major rebuilds on their minds. There is still 50% of the rally left to go. Some say once you get to the half way point you have made it, but you really can't get complacent.

The top boys really move around with workshops! As illustrated below! I had lost count of the number of Porches that we had in the event!

Steve Perez's TEAM VK



VK cars driven by Andrew Siddal, Steve Perez and Geoff Bell



TUTHILL PORSCHE!!!!



Tuthill Porsche even had their own Maasai!! lol



The ZERO CAR!!!



Some More teams in Service (These are from Iain Freestone)




I guess I have been unfair to the rest of the teams and not really mentioned them. So may use this opportunity to tell you whats been happening at the front! Well for those in the Rallying world - the lead was mainly held by Bjorn Waldegard! Yep multiple world rally champion! Thats why they don't need a mention! Local Rally Ace Ian Duncan was also lagging behind with mechanical problems, but was quickly getting up the board. In 2009 he had won the event in a Ford Mustang! There were 5 Porches in the top 10. Broken by the Datsun 260Z of Geoff Bell and the the REAL Stig (Stig Blomqvist) was also thrown in the mix in this Mk II escort built by Viking Motorsport (Run by Phil Mills!!) Basically what I am getting at is the boys at the front end simply have too much money and resources and the likes of us can never get to the top, but we sure as hell can give them a run for their money!!

[skinnylew]

brilliant read! more please

[Deleted]

Excellent and entertaining. Incidentally, rally driving is the only motorsport I'm interested in taking part in, it's about much more than just going fast and not crashing too much.

[hatari]

Dec 30, 2011 13:41:00 GMT @volksangyl said:

Excellent and entertaining. Incidentally, rally driving is the only motorsport I'm interested in taking part in, it's about much more than just going fast and not crashing too much.

I am sure someone famous once said ... Motor Racing and Mountain Climbing were the only SPORTS ....the rest are just games! ..... coundn't agree more! ;D

Day 6 instalment coming up!

[hatari]

DAY 6 - FRIDAY 25.11.2011
Amboseli - Naivasha
353.97kms (217.58kms - Competitive)

FLASH FLOODS GALORE!!

Remember at the begining of this thread I mentioned a navigator getting washed away in some flash floods? Well today was the day. Quote taken from the official press-release of the day.

"Drama started early on the sixth day of the Kenya Airways East African Safari Classic rally. Half-way through the first section, in almost biblical fashion, a flash flood inundated a river crossing, just after the first ten cars had passed through. The rest of the competitors were then left stranded on the other side and had to be re-routed to the start of the second section at Kajiado. Unfortunately the third-placed Porsche 911 of Steven Funk passed the first river crossing only to find a flash flood in a second river. By this time there had also been a flash flood in the first river, which was now behind them, leaving them stranded between the two until the water subsided. Alastair Cavenagh and Frank Tundo had overtaken Funk earlier in the section and their Ford Escort was already stuck in the second river before it was pulled out backwards to join Funk. It was a real “tale of two rivers”. Even more stranded were the crew of Simon Tysoe and Imran Khan: when co-driver Khan went to test the depth of the water, a flash flood approached causing him to flee to the opposite bank leaving Tysoe and the Ford Escort on the other side of the river. Many of the later crews got stuck in mud at the beginning of the first section but then took the re-route from the river, whilst the last few crews didn’t start the section and went straight to the second section at Kajiado."

We later learnt that Khan tried to cross back and was swept away, a former veteran driver Jim Heather Hayes who was watching the rally jumped into the raging river to pull him out. Jim was awarded the Shekar Metha (5 time safari winner!) memorial trophy for this selfless act.

ONE OF THE NOTORIOUS RIVER CROSSINGS ... if you look hard enough you will be able to see the road on the other side!!


Driver to Navigator .... where is the road? Errr ... Think we need a boat!



Stage 13 (Lucky for some ...unlucky for others - could not be more true in this case?!) - 109.43kms. The over night rains had turned the stage into a mud-bath and 16kms into the stage it was the dreaded balck cotton soil! We headed straight into another "mud parking lot!" IT was impassable and we were turned round to join the rally at stage 14. But first we had to get unstuck!

I can park better than you can!!


The only Girls Crew in the Event! "Come Guys if they can what you doing scratching your heads?!!"


Single File Please!!!


I was not the only navigator outside the car!!


Stage 14 - 48.7kms - This was like driving on an ice rink. We came off on a slow left bend (again photograhper present!) lol. However a fellow competitor stopped and towed us out! Around 2kms Nick Mason (a good friend had come off a right hand bend and we helped him out! We had already lost too much time so this was the most noble thing to do!

STUCK AGAIN!


Stage 15 - 59.4kms Was a 'quick drop' into the Rift Valley to the night service at Naivasha. As we took the start we could see the rain clouds in the valley - Dark horrible clouds! 45kms in and the rain clouds unleashed torrential downpour .... it was raining cats and dogs ... actually more like raining cows and sheep! It was heavy!! We could not see beyond the bonnet of the car. We drove through rivers! (Again photograher present!) - I told you it was dark!!! LOL



We got to the end of the stage a few hundred metres off the control site. But were so glad to be out of the Rivers!! The 710 was proving to be very reliable. Slow but reliable!

[V-Force]

This is awesome! I read about the 240Z in Banzai or JP a while ago, iirc the chassis was bent all over the place by the end? Nice pics

[tonycocacola]

fantastic write up and pics.
id imagine doing something like that would be tough on people, not just the cars.
looking forward to reading more of your adventure.

[Brian Damaged]

Brilliant. Just brilliant! keep it coming, I'm LOVING this.