FIA RALLY: Safari Rally end of leg two report
27 February 2000
Posted By Terry
Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
The longest day of the Safari Rally saw the action criss-crossing
the Equator north of Nairobi close to Lake Baringo and Lake Naivasha
and included the daunting Eldama Ravine section. Today's opening stage
was the longest of the event and was also longer than many full days
of a European-style round of the Championship. Richard Burns has
continued to lead the rally although Carlos Sainz has been the man
on a charge for most of the day with three fastest times. The stages
today have generally been a little more benign than those of the first
leg (very rough but without the loose rocks), but the drivers are well
aware that tomorrow's final leg will be a repeat of yesterday's stages.
Subaru
Richard Burns and Juha Kankkunen both found that the early morning traffic was their biggest problem on the first section today, Burns encountering two "matatus" (local minibuses) running side by side nd blocking the road on the Marigat section. The Subarus have both been driving carefully today and rivals have been able to set faster stage times. The Subarus are, however, maintaining the team's record of being the only ones not to have gained a single puncture on this year's event. Burns' car completed the third section of the day without problem but the water temperature soared while the crew took a break before the road section. We're driving fast enough to maintain concentration but slow enough to stay out of trouble, said Burns who has led the rally since the second section.
Ford
Thanks to his time on the final section yesterday, young Norwegian Petter Solberg started today ahead of team mate Colin McRae. However, clever use of team tactics saw Solberg start the first section today behind McRae to let the Scot enjoy six minutes of clean air between himself and Didier Auriol's SEAT. It was good tactics and I'm grateful for Petter's help, said McRae. I still encountered dust from Didier after he got a puncture. He kept pulling over to let us past - it was difficult for him but he did his best to help. McRae later lost time with power steering failure but hung on to third place until the final stage of the day when the engine drowned out in a watersplash and the Scot could not restart it and was forced to retire. Carlos Sainz was delayed in the dust from two cars but still managed to set Michelin's first fastest time of the event - repeated on the next two sections. Solberg punctured but lost more time after being signalled to pull over by the Peugeot helicopter! He waited, assuming Gronholm was close behind, but it was two minutes before the Peugeot passed. Solberg was not happy and even less so later in the day when he broke a drive shaft and had to complete CS7 in three-wheel drive.
SEAT
Didier Auriol dropped a place on the first section today when he suffered a rear wheel puncture thanks to a bent wishbone that caused the car to weave on straight sections of the road. On the Eldama Ravine section Auriol discovered his shock absorbers were too hard for the sandy conditions and generally today the Frenchman has been unable to find a suspension setting entirely suited to his well-known sensitive style of driving. Nevertheless he was able to recover some of the time lost to McRae on the first section and thanks to the Scot's final stage drama ended the day as he began it in third. Of Eldama Ravine he said: The road was very twisty and so physically this was the hardest section of the event so far. It took us 47 minutes to complete 68km and my arms are aching like hell!
Peugeot
With Gilles Panizzi retiring from the rally after yesterday's final stage because of excessive damage to his car. His subsequent 'unsporting actions' against a fellow competitor later gained him a US$50,000 fine from the Stewards of the Meeting and a possible further reprimand from the FIA. Marcus Gronholm was the lone Peugeot runner. His day got off to a worrying start when the steering came loose on the opening, Marigat, section which cost him a place. He suffered from soft brakes and a failed handbrake on CS6, apparently due to overheating brakes but on the next stage suffered a repeat of his steering problem after half distance. An electrical problem brought him to a halt in the final section of the day and the Finn had to retire.
Skoda
A big truck delayed Armin Schwarz on the opening section today, along with a puncture, but otherwise the Skoda driver continues his steady drive for the Czech team. It's still very strange that we could only do 100kph on the recce but now we are having to drive the road section at 180kph, he said on arrival at Equator Park after CS6. Luis Climent went off the road in the dust, breaking a suspension which then punctured a tyre.
Everything is fine and I'm just keeping to the same pace as I was at the end of yesterday, said the Valencia driver.
Mitsubishi
Freddy Loix began the day as the lone Mitsubishi factory driver but the Belgian might have been on the retirements list before he even began the first section. His Carisma GT refused to start at the beginning of the stage and an agonising length of time passed before he could get going. I arrived early so I stopped the car, he explained. When I tried to restart the engine there was absolutely no power and we could see that the battery was flat. Sven and I had to push the car over some bumpy and rocky ground before we could find a hole deep enough to give us a chance to bump-start the car. It was just enough. Unconfirmed reports suggested that this could have been the same problem that forced Makinen out yesterday. In the end it was academic as Loix was forced to retire in CS7 when a shock absorber failed with 65 of the 93.51km section to go and it was deemed pointless to continue.
Other Teams
Toshihiro Arai's Safari debut continues to be one of the star drives of this event, the Japanese driver on course for a points finish in the FIA Teams Cup entry. His resilience was tested on CS7 when a strut punched through the top mount and also his gear lever sheared. He did well to finish the stage at all, said co-driver Roger Freeman. It was a bit of a battle. The Argentine drivers Claudio Menzi and Roberto Sanchez are right in the thick of the Group N battle with Championship contender Manfred Stohl holding third.
TOMORROW
Sunday 27 February
The third and final leg starts from Safari Park at 05h00 and covers 748.85km, including 350.84km on 4 competitive sections. The first car is expected on the finish podium at Safari Park at 16h00.
Weather forecast
Hot, sunny and dry
Text provided by FIA
Editors Note: To view hundreds of hot racing photos
and art, visit
The Racing
Photo Museum and the
Visions
of Speed Art Gallery.