South Africa's Bell maintains lead at EA Classic Rally

South Africa’s Geoff Bell Monday maintained his lead at the top of the East African Safari Classic Rally at the end of Day Two. The Datsun 240Z driver is navigated by Kenyan co-driver Tim Challen.

Italian crew of Eugenia Amos and Paolo Cecin are in second place in the toughest event in Africa,, which lived up to its reputation after organisers were forced to cancel one of the three Competitive Stages of the competition due to poor conditions of the stage on Monday.

Due to the poor state of the section, the organisers had to cancel SS5 before the first cars were able to approach the stage.

The crews had to drive straight to the following Time Control in time to start the last Competitive stage. Only two Competitive Stages were tackled instead of three.

With such an unseen problem, crews are allowed to check in early at the new forthcoming Time Control point.

When asked about the condition of the upcoming stages, Renzo Bernardi, the Clerk of the Course for the East African Safari Classic Rally, was optimistic.

“So far it has gone well. We just hope it doesn't suddenly rain overnight and make our stages slippery," Bernardi told Nation Sport.

"However, it has been hectic with minor issues which should be ok with such a big marathon event," he added.

As a navigator, Bernardi guided Marzio Kravos to six successful rounds of the East African Safari Classic Rallies.

Shakeel Khan, one of the three crew members representing the ALS Team, suffered penalty on Sunday after his Ford Escort was forced to visit the Service Park due to clutch failure.

“The car was having clutch problems before we visited the Service Park. We had to take a penalty for being in the Service Park due to that reason. We later made it to the end of the day competition,” Khan told Nation Sport.

“The Stages were tough and proper Safari Rally killer stages. Competition is good and there is a good spirit of cooperation and assistance from fellow competitors.”

His teammates, Aslam Khan and Farhaaz Khan are also motoring well in their respective Porsche 911s.

In the Classic Event, the crew is allowed to rejoin the event later. A crew failing to finish a stage faces a penalty of ideal time as per Itinerary plus 75 percent of the ideal time which will be the maximum penalty for any competitor.

The 2023 East African Safari Classic Rally has attracted over 800 people. The list includes Rally drivers, timekeepers, officials, service, crew members and volunteers among others.

The rally has over 65 entries with each team expected to spend around $25,000 in Kenya. Eleven counties will benefit from the 350 cars that will be passing through their borders.. The expenditure on the hotels alone will top up $600,000.

The team is headed by Joey Ghose, a former rally navigator in the Kenya National Rally Championship events.

Day Three action will do three more stages.The stages will be CS7 Iremto/Selenkay (77.19km), CS8 Olool Tepes/ Isinya (64.64) and CS9 Parane/Kamukuru (74.41) respectively,

Day Three Competitive Distance will be 216.24 kms, Transport 298.00 kms and overall Total Distance will be 514.24 kms.

Each of the crews is allowed two hours Service Time at the end of the Day’s contest.
 
Provisional leaders end of Day Two:
 
1.               Geoff Bell/Tim Challen (Datsun 240Z)253:45.6
2.               Eugenia Amos/Paolo Ceci (Porsche 911) 257.02
3.               Phillip Kadoorie/Ryan Champion (Porsche 911) 162:40
4.               Emile Breittmayer/Alexis Thomas (Porsche 911) 163:42.1
5.               Baldev Chager/Gareth Dawe (Porsche 911) 164:55
6.               Bonamy Grimes/Martin Rowe (Porsche 911)  272:13.7
8.                Andrew Siddall/Gary McElhinney (Datsun 240Z) 273:37.1
9.               Journal Serderidis/Grégoire Munster (Porsche 911) 173:49.4
10.               Kris Rosenberger/Nicola Bleicher (Porsche 911) 184:58.4
11.               Ian Duncan/ Jaspal Matharu (Datsun 280Z) 290:22