Drews returns to Safari Classic Rally
Published on October 3, 2007, 12:00 am
By a Correspondent
Safari Rally legend navigator Lofty Drews will return to this year’s Kenya Airways East African Safari Classic Rally.
Drews, who grew up in Kenya before migrating to Queensland, Australia, will navigate Jayant Shah in a Datsun 260Z. The 60-year-old Drews first won the East African Safari Rally in 1973 with Shekhar Mehta in a Datsun 160J before graduating to become one of the greatest names in the history of the Safari Rally.
His reputation as a navigator has no equal in this time and era. Drews has always had fond memories of Kenya, especially when the weather played adverse roles in the downfall of many of the drivers.
Should similar conditions befall the 2007 KQ-sponsored Classic Safari Rally, then Drews says he is well prepared for the rigours he encountered with Rauno Aaltonen in the 1977 in a Datsun 160J when part of Kenya suffered a deluge.
That time, he helped to push the original "Flying Finn" Rauno Aaltonen to the second position, a result they were to repeat two more times with Datsun and Opel rally cars. His last outing with the Finn was in the 1987 Safari in an Opel Kadett when they finished ninth overall.
Shah and Drews drove a Datsun 180B in the 2005 Classic Rally after failing to clear a Nissan 260Z from the port in time for the marathon event.
The 260Z will now be used in this year’s KQ rally after months of preparations. It was successfully tested in the recent Arusha Rally.
Drews and Shah, who resides in Arusha, Tanzania, had been a winning combination over the years before the former moved to Australia in 1987, but his return in 2005 was just a great home coming.
Drews honed his rallying career in the Kenyan highlands and was a regular Safari finisher with several world-renowned drivers.
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