Ti survive tough opening tests on Classic Safari

Ti%20Kenya%20Day2b Ti survive tough opening tests on Classic Safari

Hardev Sira Singh, a Kenyan now living in England, has enjoyed his best ever start to what is arguably the toughest rally in the world, the Kenya Airways East African Safari Classic Rally, and heads into the third day second in class and inside the top 25 overall.

Hardev, or Gogi as he is affectionately known, and co-driver Dennis Giraudet enjoyed a faultless run over the opening four stages, comprising over 280 stage kilometres, in their Ti Motorsport run Ford Escort RS1600, with the only issue being that Gogi had to adapt his driving style to suit the Escort after years of competing in a heavier Peugeot 504 Coupe.

The Escort is an awesome car and she has been faultless so far. I had to adapt my driving style as I was disappointed in my stage times on Sunday’s prologue test and realised I was still driving the way I used to in the Peugeot.

We lost a bit of time in the opening stage today when we caught and passed a competitor and then, a while later, thought we were, in turn, being caught, only to find out it was the same guy following in our dust!

After an overnight rest halt in the wildlife sanctuary of Taita Hills, the crews will head into Tanzania for the next three days, with a number of torturous stages around the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s tallest mountain, to test the crews and their machines. On Friday the rally returns to Kenya for a further four days with the ceremonial finish back in Mombasa, some 4500 kilometres after they began!

Ti%20Kenya%20Day2a Ti survive tough opening tests on Classic Safari