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RALLY: Welcome to the 1999 Safari Rally Kenya

26 February 1999

The Safari is very different from the European special stage events and is run almost entirely on ordinary public roads. The event has long required reliability and endurance from car and crew rather than pure speed and yet it is one of the fastest events on the rally calendar. Some average stage speeds reach 145kph! This years Safari Rally is one of the shortest in history but nevertheless covers a total distance of approximately 2,700 kilometres, twice that of traditional European-based events.

There are a couple of key points about the Safari which make it different from other World Rallies:

- Speed vs reliability: although competition is fierce, speed in the Safari does not always determine with winner. Vehicle realiability over the long stages is critical, particularly as the stages are up to 10 times longer than on other WRC events. Also, knowing when to slow down is just as important as knowing when to speed up.

- Car strength: WRC cars are especially built for the Safari. To withstand the high speeds over rough ground, the cars must be stronger in every way

- snorkel/bullbar: due to the dusty and sometime very wet conditions most cars run an air intake that extends from under the bonnet to the roof. Also, Safari competitors have been know to encounter wildlife during sections, and therefore use a front bull bar. Both these modification add considerable character to the cars.

- tyres: because of the high speed sections, if a driver gets a puncture, they can lose a lot of ground to their competitors. Generally ATS anti-deflation mousse is used in all the tyres

- driver fitness: naturally this is important on any event, but the long stages and high temperatures make this critical.

Weather: is expected to be sunny and approx 32 deg C (90F)