"Something didn’t feel right at the back-end of the car at the start of the section", said Alister. "About 15 kilometres in it felt like a rear damper had broken and we dropped another 13 minutes. But when the team checked the components back in service, it was actually a broken top mount. It started to get dark in the last section which was another new experience for me in Africa and visibility was quite difficult. With the time loss, there’s no sense in us pushing too hard tomorrow, but we need to find a reasonable pace and drive for a finish in the points. It just goes to show it’s worth hanging in on this event".

Adding to Alister’s comments, Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart team manager Derek Dauncey said: "The key to the Safari is to keep the car in the rally and, overnight, we’re now in a position to take points, despite losing a lot of time. With the high rate of attrition, hopefully one of the cars in front will fall out tomorrow, moving us even higher up in the Manufacturers’ points. It’s difficult for a driver to accept the time loss and keep motivated, but Alister has stuck in there and it just goes to show that it pays off".

Meanwhile...

The carnage of yesterday has barely been less today and no fewer than four of the leading crews have hit the sidelines in what is proving to be one of the toughest and roughest Safaris in years. Broken rear dampers in the opening test paled into insignificance for Tommi Mäkinen, the overnight leader dropping to sixth and then ultimately into retirement when the suspension failed on his Subaru in CS8. Kenneth Eriksson, who had powered the Skoda into fourth position, retired within sight of his service crew with a broken gearbox, and Carlos Sainz was forced out when the oil pump belt broke and the Focus ended up with no oil pressure. Richard Burns is also out, the Briton retiring in bizarre circumstances as he approached the time control into service after CS8. Burns was left with just three wheels on his Peugeot when the suspension broke in the section and, as he approached the control, he beached the car on the soft and dusty soil, going OTL in very frustrating circumstances. The result of all this is that 11 of the top drivers are now out of the event, including the two top Championship leaders. Around all this, Colin McRae (Ford) has picked his way through the sections, avoided trouble and leads the 2002 Safari Rally with three sections remaining tomorrow. Behind him, Harri Rovanperä has moved up into second in the sole remaining registered Peugeot, while Markko Märtin (Ford), making his debut in Africa and not particularly enjoying the experience, held a fine third overall until his Focus failed to start in final service and he incurred 11 minutes 30 seconds of penalty, dropping him to fifth overall. Thomas Rådström has therefore climbed into third, unexpectedly, on Citroën’s debut in the Safari Rally, and the French manufacturer’s delight is compounded by fourth position for team-mate Sébastien Loeb. Gilles Panizzi (Peugeot) rounds off the top six. With one day remaining, there are only nine of the manufacturers’ drivers remaining, only six of whom are registered for Championship points.

Yet Marcos Ligato cannot think in terms of driving purely for a finish. After two full days and more than 1,500 kilometres of competition, he leads the Production class by just two minutes 41 seconds, a tiny margin by the standards of such a long event. The reliability of his Lancer Evolution has played a key part in keeping him in the lead.

"Everything is OK. The car is very good and the team is incredible. We have had almost no problems and I am trying to drive a bit more slowly to make sure we come to the finish. It would be really good to win our class on this rally after leading last year, but we cannot relax yet. There are still three very difficult sections", Ligato explained.

Italian driver Stefano Marrini was going well and holding fourth place in class in his Carisma GT, only to run into suspension difficulties that forced him to retire.

"It is disappointing of course, but I knew from last year this rally is a very big challenge and I was trying to drive not too fast to make sure the car came to the finish. Still many other people have had trouble too", Marrini said.

Malaysian driver Karamjit Singh is holding third place in his Proton, carefully judging his pace to make sure that he reaches the finish on Sunday afternoon. Rudi Stohl holds fourth in his Carisma GT.

Still to come...

The third leg of the Safari Rally returns to the Great Rift Rally for the final three competitive sections, each again a repetition of those already run. The route is the shortest of the three days covering just 262.85 competitive kilometres in a total distance of 683.50. The surviving contenders return to Nairobi for the finish at 16:15 hrs (local).

OVERALL CLASSIFICATION AFTER LEG 2