We all know what happened to me before the rally started ...but this is my story during the 10 days ........ A visit down memory lane November / December 2007.
A Novices Insight Into the Worlds Thoughest Motor Event
It is known as one of the worlds toughest rallies - The East African Safari Classic Rally. In 2007 Sudle Motorsport entered the event, after years of planning and hard work. We were one of the only crews that had no competition experience. The team entry and car was built on sheer determination and resilience. The car a Datsun 240Z, Driven by Harvinder Dhanjal and Navigated by Harpal Sudle. Harvinder had been involved in rallying only as a spectator, a Marshal and a service manager for a local entrant in some of the Local National Championship events in Kenya. My experience as a navigator came from being with one of the best names in Kenyan rally organising, my dad - Surinder Sudle. At a very tender age I had been bungled into a Datsun PA10 and been asked to read notes as we checked the route for the Eldoret rallies. However in the late 80's I moved to UK and took a sabatical from motor rallying. Almost every Kenyan born child has an in built bug and the sickness that comes from it is called the "Safari Fever". It was no different for us and our dream was always to do the Safari. In 2007 this dream became a reality.
The Classic Safari boasts over 5000kms of jaw shaking and car wrecking roads. Distances of over 750kms covered in a day and the longest competitive section of over 160 kms. Glorious Mudholes and dust fine like talcum powder, that gets into every nook and cranny, rain and heat all in the space of a few days as you crisscrossed the Equator in Kenya and then travelled into Tanzania.
Having had no experience we were seeded 57th out of the 58th crews. Being novices, our only goal was to finish the event. We battled against all odds just to make it to the start ramp. With the little knowledge we had, we took the start. Over two hours behind the leading car. As the first car was coming to the evening rest halt, we were only just getting to the start of the next stage. At the end of the day the front runners had the luxury of daylight to make repairs. We got in late evening and by the time we got into service, we worked under torch and portable lights. But this is what the Safari is about and we were happy just living this dream.
Day one - Mombasa to Safari Park (Nairobi) - 657.83kms
Today we just wanted to settle nerves and made our way to the first stage. I remember telling Harvinder (Haru) at the start of the stage to 'drive like my grandmother!' There was only one other car behind us and there was no need to try and become heros. As we got through the stage we had already come across a few cars on the way side. The safari was living up to its reputation and already claiming it first victims. The joy was clear through the whole team as we got to our service. There were jumps of happiness as we completed our very first competitive stage without much trouble. After our quick service we headed into the famous Taita Hills. The first icident was in this stage as the car just veered off a right hand bend into a ditch. The good old locals came to our rescue, pushed us out and only then did we realise that there was no one in the car, we were both helping to push it and it just rolled along the road as Haru struggled to jump into it to try stopping it! The final stage was a dash around the now famous Athi-River Spectator stage, thousands lined the quarry to see the classic cars loop around the Quarry. It was relatively incident free, apart from hitting a hidden rock, getting stuck behind a spectator car and we had our first puncture of the rally, luckly this was just as we got on to the Highway into Nairobi! The damage became clear as we came into service at the Lucious Safari Park Hotel. We had already bent the sump gaurd, the manifold was leaking and all this only on the first day! Our service team was fantastic and put in a valiant effort everynight to make sure the car was "fit" for the next day.
A Novices Insight Into the Worlds Thoughest Motor Event
It is known as one of the worlds toughest rallies - The East African Safari Classic Rally. In 2007 Sudle Motorsport entered the event, after years of planning and hard work. We were one of the only crews that had no competition experience. The team entry and car was built on sheer determination and resilience. The car a Datsun 240Z, Driven by Harvinder Dhanjal and Navigated by Harpal Sudle. Harvinder had been involved in rallying only as a spectator, a Marshal and a service manager for a local entrant in some of the Local National Championship events in Kenya. My experience as a navigator came from being with one of the best names in Kenyan rally organising, my dad - Surinder Sudle. At a very tender age I had been bungled into a Datsun PA10 and been asked to read notes as we checked the route for the Eldoret rallies. However in the late 80's I moved to UK and took a sabatical from motor rallying. Almost every Kenyan born child has an in built bug and the sickness that comes from it is called the "Safari Fever". It was no different for us and our dream was always to do the Safari. In 2007 this dream became a reality.
The Classic Safari boasts over 5000kms of jaw shaking and car wrecking roads. Distances of over 750kms covered in a day and the longest competitive section of over 160 kms. Glorious Mudholes and dust fine like talcum powder, that gets into every nook and cranny, rain and heat all in the space of a few days as you crisscrossed the Equator in Kenya and then travelled into Tanzania.
Having had no experience we were seeded 57th out of the 58th crews. Being novices, our only goal was to finish the event. We battled against all odds just to make it to the start ramp. With the little knowledge we had, we took the start. Over two hours behind the leading car. As the first car was coming to the evening rest halt, we were only just getting to the start of the next stage. At the end of the day the front runners had the luxury of daylight to make repairs. We got in late evening and by the time we got into service, we worked under torch and portable lights. But this is what the Safari is about and we were happy just living this dream.
Day one - Mombasa to Safari Park (Nairobi) - 657.83kms
Today we just wanted to settle nerves and made our way to the first stage. I remember telling Harvinder (Haru) at the start of the stage to 'drive like my grandmother!' There was only one other car behind us and there was no need to try and become heros. As we got through the stage we had already come across a few cars on the way side. The safari was living up to its reputation and already claiming it first victims. The joy was clear through the whole team as we got to our service. There were jumps of happiness as we completed our very first competitive stage without much trouble. After our quick service we headed into the famous Taita Hills. The first icident was in this stage as the car just veered off a right hand bend into a ditch. The good old locals came to our rescue, pushed us out and only then did we realise that there was no one in the car, we were both helping to push it and it just rolled along the road as Haru struggled to jump into it to try stopping it! The final stage was a dash around the now famous Athi-River Spectator stage, thousands lined the quarry to see the classic cars loop around the Quarry. It was relatively incident free, apart from hitting a hidden rock, getting stuck behind a spectator car and we had our first puncture of the rally, luckly this was just as we got on to the Highway into Nairobi! The damage became clear as we came into service at the Lucious Safari Park Hotel. We had already bent the sump gaurd, the manifold was leaking and all this only on the first day! Our service team was fantastic and put in a valiant effort everynight to make sure the car was "fit" for the next day.
BTW. before Sean says "when is a 240 not a 240" isn't that a 260 rear light cluster?