RALLY: Safari Rally End of Leg One Report
26 February 2000
Posted By Terry
Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
The unique nature of the Safari Rally was underlined as early as the
first competitive section when several crews reported that they had
been forced to slow to avoid animals in the road. However it has
been how teams have coped with punctures that has determined who has
been successful today although the rough roads have also spelled the
end for three of the top drivers.
Peugeot
The Peugeot team admitted before the start that the first Safari Rally for the 206WRC would be a steep learning curve. This proved to be the case immediately as Marcus Gronholm suffered two punctures on the opening competitive section and Gilles Panizzi was even more badly delayed when he spun and damaged the rear of his car. The Swedish Rally winning team have been unable to replicate the form shown two weeks ago but this was to be expected on their first visit to Africa in over a decade.
Mitsubishi
Tommi Makinen completed the first competitive section in second place despite having to twice stop to let cows cross the road. We had to stop completely at one point, he admitted. Unfortunately he became the event's first retirement after collecting three punctures and damaging his rear suspension. He completed the second section but withdrew afterwards when his battery went flat at the finish control. Team mate Freddy Loix was forced to stop and change a puncture just after half distance but was more concerned about driving cleanly. He felt his shock absorbers had gone soft towards the end of the section but these were changed routinely at service.
Ford
Colin McRae's event got off to a slow start when he had to slow and avoid donkeys in the road. He suffered several punctures and declared: The tyres are overheating. I don't think it's going to get any better. Carlos Sainz also admitted that he had been forced to slow by animals. Unfortunately they were nothing exotic like giraffes or lions, laughed Sainz. They were just cows, goats and dogs. He suffered shock absorber failures in CS3 and when he had to solve the problem between the stages, this cost him 2m50s of penalties. Petter Solberg found himself tied with Tommi Makinen at the team's mid-stage timing point on CS1 but he was then twice delayed by slower cars and a truck before damaging his own rear suspension. Subaru Juha Kankkunen hit a cow on the opening competitive section and was forced off the road in the incident. Afterwards he felt that the Subaru wasn't handling so well but it was fine after service although he lost time on CS2 driving 40km in Sainz's dust. Richard Burns took the lead with fastest time on CS2 and was having to concentrate on finding the right pace. I know I could drive faster, he said, but to do so would increase the risk of doing serious damage to the car. He had a scare when there was a bang under the car while he was overtaking an army truck. I hoped it wasn't the diff, he said. SEAT First blood to SEAT! Didier Auriol set the first fastest time of the event despite slowing for the last 10km with a wheel vibration. I'm feeling quite confident, he said. We have been reaching speeds of 206kph which is a good speed on these roads. Unfortunately on the second he then had to stop and change a broken rear wheel after hitting a rock and puncturing the tyre. Team mate Toni Gardemeister started well but slipped down the order after going off and damaging the door so badly that he had to remove it. Co-driver Paavo Lukander was feeling the after- effects of the testing accident and when the pair suffered another heavy landing on CS2 the team withdrew the young Finns.
Skoda
Armin Schwarz stuck to his plan to take things easy at first and completed the first pair of tests with no major problems. He spotted parts of Panizzi's Peugeot in the road on CS1 and later passed the stricken car stopped at the roadside. A broken rear suspension bolt caused problems for Luis Climent on the opening section, leading to both a puncture and rear wing damage. The Valencia driver later reported a slipping clutch and a possible front differential problem.
Other Teams
Toshihiro Arai has proved to be the quickest driver in the FIA Teams Cup entries and although he suffered a puncture that cost him time on the final stage he has been running in the middle of the top 10 for most of the day.
Tomorrow (Saturday 26 February), Leg 2 starts from Safari Park at 04h45 and covers 1193.03km, including 359.02km on 4 competitive sections. The first car is expected to return to Safari Park at 20h00.
Weather forecast
Dry, sunny and hot
Text provided by FIA
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