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THE
EAST AFRICAN CLASSIC
SAFARI RALLY REVIVAL
Nostalgia paved our roads last
December, with 53 vintage rally cars participating in the East African Safari
Rally - opening a classic page to its history book.
The grueling schedule
weaved a route through some of the most picturesque topography across Kenya,
Tanzania and Uganda before crossing the finish line in Mombasa. Probably
the most grueling section was from Kampala to the Masai Mara, with the driver's
and navigating teams negotiating some pretty unforgiving terrain!
Hours started long before
daybreak for the service crew, and well into the night, as they toiled over
'their mean machines', fixing brackets, suspensions, gearboxes and a lot,
lot more. Working by spotlight it was uncanny to witness. One could see and
feel the tenderness the service crews had for their charge of vintage
automobiles. Something lost in today's high tech, fast and largely dispassionate
approach to rallying, these 'old girls' of the rally world were lovingly
coaxed onto the next leg of Africa's greatest safari rally by these dedicated
men and women. Specifications and the type of vehicle entries were limited
to that of the 1960's/70's when these revived cars were considered the hottest
models - albeit with extensive roll bars wrapped inside the body frames.
Surprisingly, I learnt that some of the cars could travel at speeds of up
to 170 - 200 kilometers an hour, an impressive thought whilst watching the
array of old fashioned models being flagged off from the NovaHotel in Arusha
on their 5 to 6 hour stint down to Tanga, along the Tanzanian
coast.
Car's had been imported
from as far as Britain, to once more, participate in this revived and prestigious
rally. Some were heavily sponsored with extensive service crew, others had
entered privately, with little more than initiative, sheer determination
and a love of the event to get them through. Husbands and wive's; a women's
team, Tanzanians, Kenyans and Ugandans, as well as global entries complimented
some of the rally's respected 'old' hands (excuse the phrase guys!)! Strictly
speaking; some of the vehicles, which were as new as 33 years old, didn't
classify as vintage automobiles - though they were certainly would be so
by today's rally world! Models included Datsun, Porsche, Ford, Rover, Volvo,
Mercedes, Peugeot, Opel, and a Trabant (which reminded me of the old flying
car in one of the Harry Potter movies).
Apart from igniting a sense
of pride and nostalgia back into our limp rally status; it's livened East
Africa's image as a wonderful destination, and most of all it was great fun
for spectators. Hearty congratulations to Mike Kirkland and his officials
for launching and managing the event.
Visit
www.eastafricansafarirally.com
for more details. |
