Big names in for the East African Classic Safari Ring

The 2017 edition of the Kenya Airways East African Safari Classic promises to be a hotly contested affair going by the caliber of cars already entered for the race. The veterans of the trade have registered flying machines such as Porshe 911s, Datsuns and Fords in a bid to capture the prestigious rally.

It gets juicier as former national rally champions, Baldev Chager and Ian Duncan have thrown their hat in the ring for the nine-day adventure cutting across Kenya and Tanzania starting on November 23 to December 1, 2017.

With the entry of the two heavyweights, local rally drivers might just follow the two given that defending champion Stig Blomqvist is also back in the race.

“Entries for the event continue to pour in. We have many drivers who have expressed interest and I can assure rally lovers of some big names from Kenya and overseas that will be joining the list, probably some of the most famous locals.

“The last to sign up for the event was Kabras Sugar Racing which announced a-three car Porscvhe 911 outfit so we expected more in due course,” said East African Safari Rally General Manager Pipi Renu.

Blomqvist won the World Rally Championship drivers’ title in 1984 and finished runner-up in 1985.

Others entries include a Datsun 260Z of South Africa’s Geoff Bell and the highly competitive Group B Mazda RX-7 of French historic veteran, Philippe Gache.

Legendary driver Jayant Shah will be returning to the biennial extravaganza in a Porsche 911. Scott Amstrong will debut in a Datsun 160J.

Another entry to be watched closely is the all Italian crew of Gilbertto Sandretto and Fabrizia Pons also in a Porsche 911.