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Björn and Mathias Waldegard starting day 8 of the 2011 Safari Classic Rally 7 seconds down on P1 was always going to mean an exciting first stage of the day. That is what we got.
The former World Champion set off like an experienced greyhound out of a trap, setting the fastest time. On a 31-minute stage, he was 2 minutes faster than de Mévius and almost three minutes faster than third place Duncan. Steve Funk was a super impressive fourth, four minutes down on Waldegård: awesome driving.
Björn’s performance put him back in the lead. The top 9 after Stage 19 looked like this:
KQ EASCR
CS19 Wald 31:46
1 Wald 16:12:2
2 Bel+4:46
3 Stig+76:27
4 Mrcy+82:59
5 Perz+115:46
6 deM+132:33
7 Fnk+140:53
8 Mndr+143:37
9 Llyd+153:26
Stage 20 started well but Björn picked up a puncture mid stage which we think cost 4 minutes: all the lead he had. The Safari dice rolled our way soon after, when Geoff also had a puncture, losing more time than the Swedes.
Consequently, the top 9 after Stage 20 looked like this:
CS20 Mrcy 57:30
1 Wald 17:18:11
2 Bel+8:26
3 Stig+74:2
4 Mrcy+77:22
5 Perz+124:28
6 deM+130:44
7 Fnk+140:54
8 Mndr+152:15
9 Dun+155:22
I’m told that we still have the entire rally distance of a British Championship to cover. Bjorn has just cleared the last stage of the day so things are looking OK.
Elsewhere in the field, Patrick Njiru joined Thomas Flohr in retirement (Thomas rolled at the end of the last stage before rest day), when his rear torsion bar torque tube was deemed damaged beyond repair. It’s a shame as Patrick had set the fifth fastest time on Stage 19 and was enjoying the car. Saying goodbye to a Kenyan favourite and the legend that is Fabrizia Pons is not easy.
Overall Stage 20 results are not yet available, but at the end of Stage 19 we had Waldegard P1, Funk P7, Wunderlich P12, Jackson P14, Troman P15, Khan P18 and Faldini in P34.
News from the crew is that no one has had more than 4.5 hours sleep a night since the rally started. Everyone is tired but delighted to be back in front. Travis Pastrana has gone down as a legend amongst the service crew and they are looking forward to flying home on Wednesday: straight into a public sector strike expected to generate 12-hour queues at immigration control. Safari Rally: the gift that keeps on giving!
Tomorrow is THE LAST DAY. There are three stages in the morning totalling 160kms of rallying, along with 140kms of road mileage on which anything can happen. The finish is at lunchtime, with end-of-rally podium at 1pm, back at the White Sands Hotel. Hopefully, there’ll be a fat lady singing alongside our Swedish farmer and rally driver, but it’s far from a done deal yet.
