With a dozen Porsche 911s under preparation for this year’s Kenya Airways Safari Classic rally in November, Tuthill Porsche are determined that nothing will be left to chance and have recently carried out a rigorous test on rough roads in mid-Wales.
Behind the wheel was team boss, Richard Tuthill, and the Safari Classic specification 911 covered over two hundred kilometres on the nearest thing that can be found in Britain to the rough roads of Kenya and Tanzania that his cars will have to tackle in three months time.
“Every Safari is different, but this one has many new challenges,” said Richard Tuthill. “The rally has a new route, with the longest single stage extended to more than 180 kilometres: almost half the total running of a current World Championship Rally.”
“The organisers have also tightened scrutineering procedures, with strict enforcement of period FIA homologation for all competing vehicles. Removing previous flexibility surrounding this regulation confirms the Safari Classic as the world’s toughest rally for historic rally cars prepared to the highest standards.”
“The 2013 Safari Classic was an incredible rally, where our team was tested to the absolute limit. It was tough to lose the win within sight of the chequered flag, but we vowed to come back even stronger. Set in the most beautiful part of the world with the wonderful East African people, Safari is our favourite rally and the ultimate test of these incredible historic rally cars.”
Of the twelve 911s prepared by Tuthill Porsche, five of them are entered by Tem Tidö/Race4Health, the Swedish organisation that link their motor sport activities with charitable organisations for whom they raise funds. They have a very strong team headed by Stig Blomqvist – the man who nearly took victory for them in 2013 and is an ex-World Rally Champion – and Richard Göransson ex-Swedish and European Touring Car Champion who made a major impression during his Safari debut two years ago. The other cars are to be driven by David von Schinkel, Roger Samuelsson and Christer Johansson. Each car is individually linked to a charity most of which have a direct link to support projects in Africa. Full details on http://www.race4health.com.
The other seven cars prepared by Tuthill Porsche are entered either by them on behalf of individual competitors or by the competitors themselves. The drivers of these cars are Richard Jackson, Steve Troman, Joakim Roman, Gilberto Sandretto, Gerard Marcy, Alastair Cavenagh and Jayant Shah. In terms of Safari experience, that is an impressive line-up.