Safari Rally 2000
Friday 25 February
COMMUNIQUE 2

LOIX LEADS THE CHALLENGE AS MAKINEN RETIRES
MITSUBISHI LEADS GROUP N IN SAFARI RALLY

The opening leg of the Sameer Safari Rally - the third round of the FIA World Rally Championship - has been filled with drama, so typical of this unique round of the series. It is the longest, roughest, toughest and hottest event in the fourteen-round Championship and, competing over open roads, crews are not only faced with dry, rocky and rutted conditions, but the threat of wildlife roaming the African plains.

Today’s four sections have taken the crews over 350 competitive kilometres south of Nairobi, the length of a full three-day World Championship event. With searing heat and in-car temperatures topping 50 degrees, it has been a gruelling and physically demanding day for the 51 crews who were flagged off the start ramp this morning by the Vice President of Kenya, George Saitoti.

Dramas unfolded early as crews were faced with roaming cattle but, as conditions got rougher, the rate of attrition escalated. The SEAT crew of Toni Gardemeister and Paavo Lukander were forced into retirement for health reasons when they had to complete a section without the driver’s door and with clouds of choking dust swirling around the inside of the car. Peugeot’s Gilles Panizzi, competing for the first time in Kenya, retired after the final stage, his 206 WRC sustaining too much damage after losing a wheel. Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart driver Tommi Makinen had judged the pace from the outset, but the rocks and ditches of the Kedong Valley and the Ngong Hills took their toll in section 2. The pairing were forced into retirement from second position after a sequence of problems finally brought them to a halt with an electrical failure.

"We didn’t go off the road but had a front left puncture 30 kilometres from the end of the section", said Makinen. "We stopped to change this and then got a right rear puncture - the tyre completely exploded, so we had to stop again. Then, after another three kilometres with a brand new tyre, that also exploded. There were no stones or anything; it was a straight, smooth road, so I don’t understand what happened. From this, the right rear suspension was damaged and at the end of the section the car just stopped and we could not re-start the engine - there was no power at all and we couldn’t go any further".

Despite picking their way through the treacherous terrain, team-mates Freddy Loix and Sven Smeets also suffered three punctures in each of the last three sections, but managed to bring their Carisma GT back to Nairobi this evening in 8th position. However, the nature of the event guarantees that while time differences may look huge, they count for nothing when competing over such vast distances and inhospitable terrain.

"The car, suspension and mechanical aspects have been very good today, but there is a limit for the tyres in these conditions", said Loix. "It is hot, our speeds are quite high and the roads are pretty rough, so I have to keep telling myself to take it easy. We had three punctures in sections 2, 3 and 4 but as we were running Michelin’s anti-deflation mousse in the last two, we didn’t have to stop. In the last 10 kilometres of the final test I could see the rubber in my wing mirror, but I just kept going flat".

Of the 51 starters, 23 are competing in the Group N production category. Mitsubishis are invariably highly competitive in this class and Lancer Evolutions hold first and third places. The star of the day has been Argentine driver Claudio Menzi, who has never competed outside his homeland before. "Leading the category is fantastic", he said. "We really came here to gain experience, so this is like a dream, but we have to remember that there is still a long way to go and we have to look after the car".

Highly experienced Austrian Manfred Stohl is also looking strong at one-third distance and holds third position, just two minutes adrift of Roberto Sanchez in the Subaru Impreza. Like many of the competitors, the Mitsubishi pilot suffered suspension problems in section 2 after both front shock absorbers broke.

The second leg takes competitors across the Rift Valley and well into northern and western Kenya. It includes another four competitive sections, covering 359 kilometres based around Equator Park.

OVERALL CLASSIFICATION AFTER LEG 1