East African Safari Classic Rally more than motorsport
Baldev Chager’s Porshe 911 cruises through Amboseli towards victory in the East African Safari Classic Rally on February 18, 2022. There will be an all-lady team of Olga Lounova, a renowned singer, with her navigator, Lilia Khousnoutdinova from the Czech Republic at this year's East African Safari Classic Rally
What you need to know:
- And for the next nine days, the rally will transverse through parts of Coast and Rift Valley regions.
Unpredictable weather conditions subject to the veracity of the ongoing El Nino rains, guaranteed rough roads and everything else mother nature will throw in awaits the 63 drivers and their co-drivers confirmed for the 11th East African Safari Classic Safari Rally which zooms off at Vipingo Ridge on Saturday.
And for the next nine days, the rally will transverse through parts of Coast and Rift Valley regions.
The Classic, as it is popularly known, pits veteran Kenyans against established foreigners, some of them extremely wealthy but never shy of resisting temptations to go adventure hunting in Kenya just for the sake of it.
From personal experience having covered the Classic for 10 days for this paper, I can reveal that the Classic is a real test of stamina.
The Classic, which has had its ups and downs, appears to have found its own secured future following the dedication of Joey Ghose who bought the franchise from the Vohra family and reached out to his expansive global network of business and personal relationships to organise this year’s edition under an extremely tough economic environment.
The Classic has been restricted to Kenya unlike in the past when it traversed parts of Tanzania and greater Kenya, but it will not lack any of the ingredients which mark it as the most followed of all Classic rallies in the world for cars made before 1985 which must be two wheel propelled and non-turbo.
The Classic is rated higher than renowned events with a rich heritage like Mille Miglia, Targa Florio (Italy), Goodwood Revival (UK), Peking to Paris Motor Challenge and Ennstal Classic (Austria) because it remains timeless, a rewind of a rich past and a bygone generation.
Today, anybody who was not alive before 1985 or too young to remember is always reminded of the glorious past of the East Africa Safari Rally started in 1953 and is today a round of the World Rally Championship albeit as a shorter, slick and fast sprinter though still retaining the “unpredictable and toughness” ingredients.
The Classic also removes many drivers of a bygone era from hibernation to motorsports action across the globe. For a long time since inception, at least three former world champions — Bjorn Waldergaard, Juha Kankkunen and Stig Blomqvist — and sensational Michele Mouton, the most successful World Rally Championship female driver, competed in the Classic. They met their match in the 1994 Safari champion Ian Duncan, Rob Collinge, Baldev Chager, Carl Tundo and Alastair Cavenagh amongst other WRC Safari Rally Kenya veterans which makes the Classic truly an even competition where skills rather than resources rule the day.
Add the wild animals and limited services assistance, and the Classic becomes a truly classical example of adventure. Ghose says he is looking forward for the Classic to cover more competitive famous Safari Rally stages in Kerio Valley, Cherangani Hills and Mount Kenya regions in future as well as venturing into Tanzania, although such an undertaking has its own financial and safety challenges occasioned by the prevailing global economic situation and every expanding population growth.
Aside from sports, the Classic is an economic venture which boosts the tourism industry, transport and hospitality industry and creates employment opportunities in route planning, logistics, safety and security departments.
As a result, the event creates numerous employment opportunities for local residents.
