East African Safari Classic Rally ready to go

USA: 4
South Africa: 4
Australia: 3
Switzerland: 3
Sweden: 2
Italy: 2
Germany: 1
Denmark: 1
Philippines: 1

The cars are almost equally diverse though it has to be admitted that as far as makes are concerned, Datsun wins the day with Porsche the second most popular manufacturer and Ford third. All the cars have to of a type manufactured before the end of 1975 and any four-wheel drive or turbocharged cars are specifically forbidden. The breakdown by model is as follows :-

Datsun 240/260/280Z: 10
Porsche 911: 10
Ford Escort Mk 1: 8
Datsun 180B: 4
Datsun 1600SSS: 3
Mercedes 350/450 SLC: 2
Mitsubishi Lancer: 2
Alpine Renault A110: 2
Peugeot 504 Coupé: 1
Citroën DS 21: 1
Ford Mustang: 1
Porsche 924: 1
Datsun 1200: 1

The whole route from Mombasa through Kenya and Tanzania back to Mombasa is approximately 4,500 kilometres (2,800 miles) and, of that distance, no less than 1,882 kilometres (1,170 miles) are competitive sections. There are three competitive sections each day - with of course an exception on the rest day at Amboseli on Friday, November 27th - which, including the "seeding" section on the day of the ceremonial start makes a total of twenty-five competitive sections. This is a few more than the average number of special stages in a World Championship Rally but, on those events, the average total length of competitive mileage is around 350 kilometres (217 miles).

During the rally, our press team will be following every day and issuing releases with information on the rally as whole and on individual crews. Every evening, thanks to the support of Access Kenya who is providing an Internet link at each night halt, they will be contactable via e-mail. John and Francesca can be also be contacted by telephone on + 254 733 777827 from November 21st and on their UK phones up until then.