Safari Rally 1998

The Safari, despite becoming shorter every year, still has the promise of adventure; anything can happen in this event, and usually does. This year the rainy season, affected by el Nino, lasted until the beginning of February, leaving not enough time for the roads to recover before the rally. Part of the rally had even to be re-routed.

Bruno Thiry of Ford was out of the rally even before  it began because of a bizarre accident. He was hitching a ride with team-mate Kankkunen during the recce, when Kankkunen's car hit a mud hole throwing Thiry around in the rear passenger compartment. Thiry was hospitalized with 5 broken ribs. Ford hired quickly the experienced master Ari Vatanen to replace the Belgian.

The conditions were sunny and dusty, but the roads were very tough on the cars with a lot of holes made by the rains and rocks causing a lot of punctures. In the Safari, not the fastest crew but the one with the least problems usually takes the lead. On the first day it were the Mitsubishis of Tommi Makinen and Richard Burns who tackled the route without major problems apart from some brake troubles. After the 601 competed kilometers on the first day Makinen led his team-mate by 36 secs.

Tommi Makinen (Photo by Mitsubishi Ralliart)

Last year's winner Colin McRae had three punctures on the second competitive section, but he was fastest on all the remaining sections of the day and started the second day from the third position, 2:18 behind Makinen. Fourth was Carlos Sainz, followed by the Fords of Vatanen and Kankkunen. 7th was Didier Auriol who rolled neatly on the day's final superspecial in front of the TV-cameras. He didn't lose very much time in the incident, though.

The second day of the rally was an eventful one. Tommi Makinen extended his lead all through the day despite losing some time in a collision with a local truck; the competitive sections of the Safari are driven on open roads, among the normal traffic. On the last section of the day, however, Makinen's engine died without any warning. A broken cam belt had ended his rally.

Colin McRae had risen to the second spot, but his overheating engine called it a day after the penultimate section of the day, on which also his team-mate Piero Liatti retired with engine failure. A sad day for Subaru, they now really need a change of luck to keep up with the other teams in the Championship.

So, it was Richard Burns who started the last day in a clear lead of six minutes. Second was, who else, but the 1981 World Champion Ari Vatanen! Didier Auriol had got the Toyota up to speed and was third, followed by Juha Kankkunen. Carlos Sainz, who rolled his Toyota in the morning with minor damage, was 5th. Group F2 leader Harri Rovanpera was 6th.

The last day was for Richard Burns about taking it carefully and hoping for the best. He collided with a large bird, listened to suspicious noises from the driveshaft, but finally he and co-driver Robert Reid arrived to Nairobi taking their first ever WRC win. Totally overcome by their victory, the pair engaged in boisterous celebration on the podium.

The winners' podium (Photo by Mitsubishi Ralliart)

Ari Vatanen closed up on Burns during the day, but after the final stage he took a penalty to let Juha Kankkunen take the second position by a team order. Nevertheless, Vatanen was very happy: "I feel like a little boy. I really enjoyed the Safari and I want to come back here next year." Kankkunen, finishing nine and a half minutes behind Burns, relied on sensible driving all through the event and that really paid off; he's now co-leading the Championship with Carlos Sainz.

Sainz was the last retiree of the top crews. A broken strut rubbed a rear tyre causing the tyre to catch fire. Sainz and co-driver Luis Moya put out the fire and tried to continue with three wheels, but were finally compelled to return to Nairobi in a helicopter.

Didier Auriol finished 4th over 14 minutes behind the winner. Harri Rovanpera, dominating the group F2 on Seat's first Safari outing, was 5th, more than two hours behind.

Becoming shorter has also meant that the Safari Rally is now more competitive than ever. But the event hasn't lost it's unpredictable nature and the charm of the Kenyan savannah is still there. The Safari has been succesfully reformed to meet the demands of the modern hard paced form of World Rallying.

In the Safari you're always close to the nature! (Photo by TTE)