|
  Safari excitement at Race Retro.
PRESSRELEASE
 The presence of Stig Blomqvist and Björn Waldegård raised the temperature at a rather chilly International Historic Motor Show last weekend. Outside on a special stage within the grounds of Stoneleigh Park in the West Midlands, they joined Michele Mouton and others to drive cars that had strong memories for them. In particular, Waldegård was reunited with the Porsche 911 that he drove on the 2005 Classic Safari in which he finished seventh overall.
But inside the exhibition halls of the show, they came to the Historic Motorsport Stand to stand beside a sister car to the Mk 1 Escort BDAs that they will drive on the 2007 Classic Safari and talk about their recent successful test in Kenya. Both ex-World Champions were delighted with the results. Blomqvist who finished second in a Historic Motorsport Escort in the 2005 event was sure that he was on target for success. “The car was very good, better even than the Escorts I have driven before. This was quicker and maybe slightly easier to keep on the good line in a corner”. Waldegård was if anything more positive. On stepping out of the car after the final day of the test he said “I can start the rally tomorrow with this car” while at the show he commented that he thought it was “Bomb proof, handling really well over the rough and giving a positive feel to the driver at speed on the dirt”. Waldegård has plenty of experience by which to judge the performance of these cars since he started competing on the original East African Safari Rally in 1971 with a Porsche 911, finished second in 1974, swapped to a Lancia Stratos for 1975 when he was third and finally won the Safari in 1977 with a Ford Escort Mk2 RS1800. He subsequently won the Safari three more times driving various versions of the Toyota Celica.
Team director for Historic Motorsport and the man behind Ari Vatanen’s World Championship title success in 1981 with an Escort, David Sutton, was equally pleased. “If I had to summarise our week in Kenya I would say that it was very good, then very bad and then very, very good. To start with, we thought that between our engineers and Gordon Birtwhistle of Proflex dampers, we had made a big step forward from previous years. A short test in Wales before we sent this car out had gone well and it all started just fine. Then we discovered that there was an error in manufacturing one part and Gordon was dispatched to downtown Nairobi to make some on-the-spot alterations. After that, the Escort was transformed. Since discovering things like this are the whole reason for testing, one can say that the test was a massive success.”
These cars now benefit from a suspension that is close to that used by the modern WRC cars and ensures that not only do they get a good ride on the rough, but are also able to extract the maximum traction from their fifteen inch Minilite wheels fitted with Pirelli tyres. At the same time, there was plenty of chance to see if their revised cooling system worked well in the higher temperatures and altitudes that Kenya can provide.
These cars, prepared as they are, especially for the Safari Classic do not come cheap and nor does the experience of their drivers. Sutton admits that he was simply delighted when his client and main sponsor, Vineyard Otazu, told him at the end of the 2005 event that they would be doing it again and that it would be with two ex-World Champions in two new cars.
There is a chance that with its slightly earlier date at the end of November, the Safari Classic could see some rain. Sutton was phlegmatic on the subject. “Of course, we would prefer it to be dry. Escorts have never really liked water and in any case, dry conditions give much less trouble to competitors, organisers and spectators. But I am sure we have done everything to provide our experienced drivers with good machinery no matter what the conditions”.
Meanwhile, entries continue to come in for the Safari Classic as do the number of bookings for the supporters and spectators who want to follow the event. It looks like being a full house come November …
» Pressrelease från Safarirallyt, www.eastafricansafarirally.com.
» Denna samt tidigare pressreleaser, se Pressrelease
Följ helgens rallyn:
Publicerad: 2007-03-27 20:37
|
|
Crugnola leder Rally di Roma Capitale - Calle i JEM topp, Grahn femma i ERC3.
 Rally di Roma Capitale avslutar första etappen, tre sträckor dubbelt under dagen där Italienarna håller till i topp. Leder rallyt gör Andrea Crugnola med Citroën C3 Rally2, han leder 3,3 sekunder före Giandomenico Basso. Trean, Polacken Mikolaj Marczyk spräcker Italienska dominansen med fem sekunder...Publicerad: 2025-07-05 18:06
Tänak tar hem Louna-Eesti Ralli, ny andraplats för Arvid och David.
 Louna Eesti Ralli fortsatte med sex typiska rallysträckor vilket innebär högt tempo - en av dagens sträckor kröp snittet ned under 120km/h. Ott Tänak i en klass för sig, ende med Rally1 bil då han testade inför sitt WRC rally på hemmaplan om ett par veckor.
Tänak 4:28 minut före Kaspar Kasari i F...Publicerad: 2025-07-05 16:40
Inför service i Rally di Roma Capitale - Carlberg toppar Junior ERC, Grahn sexa och Mille 22:a.
 Första halvan av lördagens etapp i Rally di Roma Capitale avverkad, tre sträckor på 6, 35 respektive 13km körda, tre sträcksegrar i Junior ERC klassen för Calle Carlberg och Jörgen Eriksen.
Svensk ledning i JERC.
Svenska besättningen hos Opel Motorsport hittade snabbt formen på asfalt och...Publicerad: 2025-07-05 13:42
Så gick det i Eckerö Linjen Sprint.
 Tre åk i snabb följd på den 3,7km långa sträckan för Eckerö Linjen Sprint hos Ålands MK under lördagen för de 27 tävlande. Enskilt bästa åk utav de tre utgjorde resultatlistan.
Sex finska åkare överst i totallistan med Samuli Vuorisalo i Skoda Fabia överst, 4,6 sekund före Marko Paasonen i Toyota...Publicerad: 2025-07-05 13:27
Nästa småbil, i veckan presenterades Alpine A290 Rallye.
 Presentationen av nya bilar för de minsta internationella rallyklasserna duggar tätt, först Lancia Ypsilon HF Racing Rally6 och nu Alpine A290 Rallye - men ingen av dem väntas ses på de Svenska grusvägarna men istället populära i Sydeuropa.
Den nya lilla Alpinen är helelektrisk i likhet med Opels...Publicerad: 2025-07-05 09:46
Nya Lancia Ypsilon HF Racing Rally6 redo för rallystart i höst.
 Först Lancia Ypsilon HF Rally4 och nu Lancia Ypsilon HF Racing Rally6 - i veckan presenterade Lancia sitt nya tillskott till rallyvägarna, det handlar om den allra enklaste bilen utefter internationella förbundets reglemente. Rally6 handlar om den allra billigaste instegsklassen, anpassade för att j...Publicerad: 2025-07-05 09:15
Följ lördagen i Eckerölinjen Sprinten, Rally di Roma Capitale och Louna-Eesti Rally.
 Följ lördagens rallyn med Svenska intressen, på Åland går Eckerölinjen Sprinten där Ålands MK arrangerar, en sträcka som körs tre gånger under dagen för de knappt 30 startande.
Rally di Roma Capitale med Mille Johansson / Johan Grönvall i Rally2 klassen - för Junior ERC Calle Carlberg / Jörgen Er...Publicerad: 2025-07-04 21:22
Avbelj toppar Rally di Roma Capitale, Grahn snabb i Rally3 och Carlberg genom i JEM-klassen.
 Ynka 1,3km var ss1, sträckan SS1 Colosseo ACI Roma i centrala Rom som öppnade årets femte ERC-deltävling Rally di Roma Capitale - starten på andra halvan av EM-säsongen.
Italienare i topp.
Dubbelt Italienskt i topp efter sträckan med Bostjan Avbelj 0,4 sekund före Andrea Mabellini under m...Publicerad: 2025-07-04 21:20
Tänak toppar Louna-Eesti Rally - Arvid klasstvåa efter fredagen.
 Ott Tänak leder stort i Louna-Eesti Rally, rallyts fyra sträckor avverkade där Tänak leder stort, men så kör han också Hyundai i20 N Rally1 som träning och test inför sitt hemmarallyt om ett par veckor, 1:22 minut leder han med totalt efter 15 minuters körning över tre mil.
Ralfs Sirmacis är tvåa...Publicerad: 2025-07-04 21:19
Kristoffersson, O`Donovan, Levin och Rådström vinnare i Rally Magic.
 Rally Magic hos Finnskoga MK avverkat, två sträckor runt sträckan som går på rallycrossbanan, på vägar runt banan och genom campingområdena. Totalt blev det närmare 40 ekipage som gav sig iväg runt banslingan.
Totalt var det Johan Kristoffersson i VW Polo GTI R5 från GK Door Team Sweden som öppna...Publicerad: 2025-07-04 19:28
|
| |
Eckerölinjen Sprinten:
Louna Eesti Ralli:
Rally di Roma Capitale:
