EQUATOR RALLY 13TH/14TH OCTOBER - DNF 0 POINTS

This is slowly becoming ridiculous !!!!! Having flown out a brand new "crash gearbox" from Australia specially for the event and to ensure that our run of bad luck with gearbox failures came to an end - what should happen ? Yes, the new gearbox fails after only 40km and we are forced to retire! 
We set the joint fastest time of 7.mins 26secs with Glen Edmunds on the opening stage and the car was feeling really good going into the second stage. A lot of suspension testing and development seemed to have paid off and I was quietly confident of being able to win this event !!
Anyway, unfortunately, it was not to be and my chances now of winning the Championship this year have slipped well and truly from my grasp !!
I can only hope that 2002 will be a bit kinder to me than this year. I shall miss the next event on 27th Oct due to business commitments in the UK but will be there for the Guru Nanak on 10th Nov. This event has always been good to me and i sincerely hope that i will be able to wrap up my Kenyan season with a much needed win !


MOMBASA COAST RALLY SAT 18TH AUGUST 2001 - DNF 

Again disaster and bad luck curse me on my local event. Obviously with the rally being held on tight , twisty roads which do not favour Ian Duncan's Land cruiser, I was note only hoping for a good result but was also favorite to win. That, was not to be ! We managed second fastest on the first 2 stages to a surprisingly fast Glen Edmunds and went into the third stage 7 secs behind him. We managed to pull 2 secs back on the third stage and when Glen retired on stage 4 we went into the lead. However, the terrible luck that seems to accompany me on my home event again struck on the special stage where, for the second event in a row, the gearbox broke - the front diff splitting the outer casing as happened in the Safari.
This now puts us back quite seriously in our chase for the title and a win on the equator is going to be essential to keeping our hopes and chances of a second KNRC title alive.
On a happier note, the Coast rally was an enormous success enjoying the highest entry of any national event in many a year. Also the Mombasa Motor Club set a new benchmark in safety standards and levels by employing 40 private security guards, working closely with the local police force , employing a route opening as well as closing car equipped with loud speakers and warning lights - with the overall result that a very safe, yet high speed event was held on public roads , through densely populated areas without danger to competitors, spectators or the general public.
Hopefully other clubs around the country will now follow this example.

SAFARI RALLY W.R.C. 20-22/7/2001 - RESULT DNF

My aim on this event was to finish in the top 10 ! I intended to drive at a pace that was about 7/10th of the pace at which we contest the local championship .

What can i say ? At the end of day one things were looking perfect - we were already in the top 10 and really all we had to do was stick in there, hopefully catch Pozzo and keep Ligato behind us and wait for more of the works teams to drop out.

The first leg had been fairly straightforward although a lot of rain had made conditions pretty slippery - particularly in Jackies.

However, a torrential storm towards the end of the day saw us driving through the Hunters stage in the worst conditions that i have ever encountered. We were very lucky to recover from what could have been a major off and so then backed off with the intention of finishing the day and looking forward to leg 2.

I was quite surprised to learn that we were in 10th place when we came out of the final stage and we then had a bit more excitement when i almost took out the Skoda team approaching the Service in control as we were running late due to a puncture.

Day 2 therefore and after the long and early drive up to Marigat all that was necessary was a steady drive through the day's stages in order to keep the car in shape for leg 3. We passed both Carlos Sainz and Freddy Loix in the Marigat stage , both broken down on the side of the road and were therefore already in 8th place when disaster struck. First 5th gear went then in quick succession 4th,3rd and second and we hobbled on in 1st for approx 10km before the entire box (or what was left of it )finally packed in and seized !!!!!!!!!!

Yet another Safari disaster - my fourth consecutive retirement in this event !

However, i will not be put off by this and look forward to giving it another bash next year !!!!!!!!

ACROPOLIS RALLY 2001 - POSITION 27TH OVERALL

The rally did not exactly start well for us when Neil Ewing, my co driver, was unable to make the recce due to his factory having caught fire in Scotland a week earlier. Fortunately, however, Ian Duncan was prepared to step in for the duration of the recce and make the pace note together with me.
The recce lasted 3 very hot and dusty long days during which we drove the entire rally route twice.
The rally then kicked off with a ceremonial start from Athens on the Thursday with the rally proper commencing the following morning.
Unfortunately, we were plagued with low engine power throughout the event which was extremely frustrating as we ended up with less actual horsepower than a group n car although we were entered in group a !!
The result was that we struggled through the whole rally only able to set times in and around the top 30 whereas had we had the correct power output top 20 times would definitely have been possible.
The MINILITE wheels coupled with PIRELLI tyres worked magnificently and as a result we managed to do the whole rally without a single puncture on road that are undoubtably rougher even than the SAFARI RALLY !

NANYUKI RALLY 12TH MAY 2001 - 2ND OVERALL -60 POINTS.

Unfortunately the rally became extremely contentious and was marred by unruly display at the prize giving ceremony.

The event started well although , with exception of only small parts of the 4 sections that we were using, we were rallying at very high speeds through areas that were far too densely populated to be safe. Heavy rains ensured that conditions were extremely tricky and slippery in many places. the first two stages saw us return to the first service in 1st place albeit only 1 second ahead of Ian Duncan ! Unfortunately, an error by the time keepers on the third stage resulted in us being given a time that was almost 2 minutes slower than our actual time through the stage !!!!! However, despite this we were able to regain 2nd place after the 4th stage upon which we set our second fastest stage time of the day.

At service before stages 4 and 5 many of the top drivers - myself, Ian Duncan, Glen Edmunds , Rob Hellier and Paul Bailey had agreed that stage 5 (which was to be a repeat of stage 2) was too dangerous to use again due to the number of pedestrians on the road. We all duly signed a letter addressed to the Clerk of the Course, requesting that the organizers should cancel this stage of safety grounds.

Upon arriving at stage 5 and finding that the organizers had decided to go ahead and run it anyway, we together with Ian Duncan and Glen Edmunds decided to stick by our written agreement and refused to enter the stage and returned to the service park. Ian and I were lying in 1st and 2nd place overall respectively at the time !The rally then went ahead and the 3 of us were forced to retire as the organizers had not taken any decision regarding stage 5. Finally, it was decided that a protest should be made to the organizers. This was duly done and the AA steward decided to override the organizers decision and to award the final results according to the positions at the end of stage 4.

It is a great shame that the rally drivers were not able to stick together and approach the organizers with a unified voice. The complaint regarding stage 4 was purely on the grounds of safety and it would appear that many of the drivers are very short sighted when it comes to this - apart from the terrible and tragic consequences that could arise from and accident, how do they think their own sponsors as well as the events title sponsors - SHELL/BP WOULD REACT TO THE NEGATIVE PUBLICITY THAT WOULD ACCOMPANY SUCH AN INCIDENT - PARTICULARLY IF SEVERAL OF THE LEADING DRIVERS HAD ALREADY VOICED THEIR CONCERNS IN WRITING ?????????????

KMSC NAIROBI RALLY SUNDAY APRIL 22ND - 3RD O/ALL - 50 POINTS

This event was held on the Oltepesi to Olepolos stage which is also used traditionally on leg 1 and 3 of the Safari Rally. Due to recent heavy rains, the road had become extremely poor in various places with a couple of enormous rockeries dividing the route. The stage was split into 3 separate stages and run two times giving a total competitive distance of 230kms.Unfortunately, due to a minor technical misunderstanding, we had overfilled the oil levels in our rear suspension which caused the rear struts to blow after only 5 km !
This meant that we had to really nurse the car around the remaining 115km of the first leg in order to be able to reach service safely and be able to replace the struts. We managed to get to the service park at olepolos , but had dropped a huge amount of time in the process and it looked debatable as to whether or not it was worth continuing since we had dropped to eighth place and there was no possibility of catching the front runners

However, we decided to continue and with proper working suspension were able to attack the stages properly , although cautiously, as there seemed no point in wrecking the car simply to finish around the lower end of the top ten . Two fastest stage times and a second fastest then saw us take a staggering 12 minutes off our first leg's attempt and coupled with a bit of good luck through the misfortune of others, we were able to finish the rally in a very happy 3rd position behind Malindi's Rob Helier. Ian Duncan once again took overall honours on an event which was perhaps rather unfairly suited towards his vehicle. We now go into the next round of the series - the Nanyuki rally on 12th May in joint second place with rob Helier.

Sunseeker Rally- February 2001 - Bournemouth - 20th place overall
6th in group N

Struggled a bit to begin with seeing as the event was run 50 percent on tarmac on which I have never driven before !! It took a while to explore and learn exactly how far the tyres could be pushed and to establish how late braking could be left !! Anyway, all said and done we managed to secure 20th place overall, 6th in group N and 3rd in the new Mitsubishi Challenge Cup which at least gets us on the points table.

Nakuru Rally - 18th March 2001 - 1st round KNRC- 2nd overall 60 points

The rally was held on closed roads on the Delamare estate at Nakuru. There were contrasting conditions and surfaces with some short, tight and twisty stages with a bit of rough thrown in as well as some very fast high speed sections. The rally got off to a fairly inauspicious start for me taking it far too cautiously through the first 2 stages and thereby losing almost 50seconds to my main rival Ian Duncan. On the following two longer stages we were able to claw back 18secs reducing the deficit to a not impossible 30seconds at the halfway halt . The next 2 short stages saw us loose 9seconds to Duncan and we went into the final 2 longer stages of the event 39seconds behind Duncan. However, we were to be blighted by mechanical difficulties when the centre differential packed in and we were left with only rear wheel drive. Nonetheless, we managed to hold on to second place and at least start the season in a reasonable position. it was a good weekend for the Mombasa Motor Club and the coast with Rob Helier putting in an excellent drive for 3rd place.