Car 40, the Weiss and Schneiders Mercedes 230E, holed its sump for the second time while the Volvo of John Bayliss and Paul Carter struggled through the day with a broken Panhard rod. The Ford Escort of Mike and Ben Dawson was one of several crews who suffered navigational problems. Owen Turner is looking happier having received a fresh supply of shock-absorbers for his team of three MGZRs, but Jane Edgington was looking less chuffed after having a tap at the back from the faster Datsun 510 of Dave Boddy, blinded by the dust – he will re-start tomorrow higher up on safety-grounds. The plucky Maestro escaped with a broken rear light.
Friday started with a mud-bath, with all traffic pushed off the road for exclusive access by the Chinese road builders. The problem with that is that overnight rain combined with the rich red earth produces sticky mud-filled axle-clogging ruts.
First drama of the day was when the official diversion was blocked by a bus meeting a truck with both stuck fast. Some nimble footwork saw the word passed down the line to get up onto the new road - some got the message, mostly two-wheel-drive cars, and everyone made it to the first time-control. The road quickly climbs to 1,500ft, it's slippery in places with full-on hairpin bends thrown in, just like the old photos of the Stelvio Pass in Italy (pics to follow, we hope).
Today saw some intensive competition on a 100km World Cup Section - the Porsche 911 of car 45 made it look easy completing the day penalty free. Joost Van Cauweberge in his green polo shirt and shorts turns a mountain climb and a string of time-controls through thick vegetation into a run to the shops.
At the head of the field both Andy Actman and Steve Blunt dropped a couple of minutes so they maintain their positions.
Behind, it's a grim struggle for survival. Mark Pickering and Dave Boddy are still out there in their Datsun 510 after support crew member Andy Inskip’s improvised inner tube fanbelt failed to work, though his ratchet strap steering drag link on the Lloyd/Scott Mercedes seemed fine. The Mercedes 280 of Owain Lloyd and Peter Scott is delayed with broken steering.
Francis Tuthill had better luck. When the axle failed on his Toyota Hilux, he found a second-hand spare from a breakers yard. The crashed donor vehicle had only done 200 miles. The axle was quickly fitted ready for the morning restart.
Friday’s run was 424km, but as the crews have all gathered by now, this even just doesn’t let up. Tomorrow is a 595km marathon from Dodoma to Mbeya, featuring another World Cup Section and a rocky 15km climb to Ifiga summit, 4000ft above.
The leaderboard is understandably showing a preponderance of tough 4x4 vehicles, with five of the top ten in off-roaders, plus the Subaru Impreza of Bob Duck. But the Belgian 911 (car 45) is now up in fourth despite that penalty and the pluck 914 and MG Maestro remain a highly creditable 7th and 9th respectively. It’s hard to see any of the remaining days passing without some major shake-ups, such are the conditions and demands on cars and crews, but in just nine days we’ll know who made it Cape Town in top spot.
Day 18 - rest day
Days 16 & 17
For the lucky ones who could reach Nairobi under their own steam, the old colonial Safari Park Hotel must have appeared like a particularly well-appointed oasis. Two days of Kenyan roads have reduced a pretty serviceable group of cars to a drawn-out string of battered jalopies – this is African rallying at its toughest.
Monday’s run from the border to the village of Marsabit was probably the slowest 250km day the crews could have imagined, such were the atrocious road conditions. Only cold bottles of Tusker offered some consolation, especially as petrol supplies at the village pumps ran out after the crews started arriving. Numerous cars suffered punctures and broken shock absorbers or suspension mountings, with some experiencing rather more serious halts.
The Ralf Weiss/Kurt Schneiders Mercedes 230E got a holed sump, fixed (sort of) with local help and a fibreglass kit, but they were well short of Marsabit by the end of the day. Alex Thistlethwayte and David Hiscox in their Datsun 240Z ran out of spare tyres and spent the night near the appropriately named Lonely Tree checkpoint camping on the roof of the Datsun, believing that hyenas do not jump. Renger Guliker & Pim ‘t Hart, previously as high as third in their BMW 535i, holed the sump for the second time, but somehow got moving again.
Despite the atmosphere in the beer tent the night before, Tuesday began at 0730 hours with 520km of corrugated dirt goat track, which astonishingly enough, is the main road to Nairobi. There were no World Cup Sections today but a series of Time Controls on 90kms of gravel and sandy tracks was enough of a challenge for most. South of Laisamis there is new tarmac, courtesy of Chinese roadbuilders who are busy working north. Within two years the tar will reach the border at Moyale and the last two days' challenge will be consigned to history.
The latest litany of casualties includes the following: the BMW X5 of Robert Belcher and Stephen Cooper fell on its side but was pulled back onto four wheels with help from Stuart Rhys-Williams and Colin McConnell’s Nissan Patrol. The BMW is now on a truck. The Tomas Prenosil, Lukas Kuttler Porsche 911 is also on a truck; cause unknown, but a 964 Carrera 4 is a complicated car to fix in rural Africa. The Atherton/Henchoz Volvo reeks of petrol with a split rubber petrol pipe and broken Range Rover engine mounts, while the other Volvo 144 crew of John Bayliss and Paul Carter are hoping to reach the Nairobi hotel around midnight.
They are among those limping in, after breaking axle tie-rods, ripping brake lines and losing their shock absorbers. Underlining just how demanding the conditions have been for the last two days, only 21 of the 42 remaining cars clocked into the final time-control within their time allowance. Many sick cars are being nursed towards the Safari Park Hotel through the night.
Jane Edgington and Gill Cotton in the Maestro were the first crew in a small car to reach Nairobi, though with a bonnet pin torn out by vibration. Jane said: ‘It's the only thing broken but the car is crying out for some service. I now know what hell looks like, truly dreadful road...it's an amazing car, I just don't know how it got here. There's carnage out there.’
The remarkable catch-up drive of Ben and Mike Dawson's Escort Mk2 continues. They drove their Escort Mk2 into the Safari Park Hotel at 23:30 local time, Tuesday night. They have driven almost non-stop for 54 hours covering 2500kms from just before the Sudan/Ethiopia border after being stranded for two and a half days with a broken stub axle. They’ve echoed the amazing effort of Owain Lloyd and Peter Scott after they re-built their Mercedes 280 Coupe’s cylinder head in the Sudan and caught up on Sunday.
Wednesday sees the first true rest day for the rally, which will be a blessed deliverance after more than a fortnight of continuous driving. How many of the crews will get to spend a day by the pool remains in doubt…frantic repairs and servicing should spoil the break for many.
All the recent turmoil has churned up the running order somewhat, though the top two remain serenely unaffected, bar the odd puncture.
Here is the top ten as it stands tonight: 1st Actman/Elcomb, Toyota Hilux; 2nd Blunt/Duck, Subaru Impreza; 3rd Van Cauwenberge/Castelein, Porsche 911; 4th Tomlin/Adcock, Land Rover Defender; 5th Taylor/Morgan, Toyota Hilux; 6th Turner/Fowle, MGZR, 7th Caldwell/Burvill, Porsche 912; 8th Pickering/Boddy, Datsun P510; 9th Beckers/Depoorter, Toyota Landcruiser; 10th Declerq/Tuthill Toyota Hilux.
Only three of the top ten are now from the pre-1980 classes, with the Belgian 911 holding an hour’s lead over its nearest rival amongst the classics, Alastair Caldwell’s 912. Previous occupants of the leaderboard have slipped a little, including Atherton and Henchoz in the 144 now resting in 12th, a place behind the Maestro of Edgington and Cotton, but miles ahead of the poor Dutch crew in the BMW 535i with its battle-scarred sump, who are in 28th place, 10 hours off the lead.
Thursday will see competitors turning to the last of four road books, covering the remaining trek from Nairobi to Cape Town. Will everyone get their repairs done in time to reach the border with Tanzania by Thursday night?
James Elliott
James Elliott is a former Editor of Classic & Sports Car