Kenyan seeks third safari rally

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34132, 20 April 1976, Page 28

Kenyan seeks third safari rally

, f.V.Z P A -Reuter —Copyright) NAIROBI. The Kenyans, Joginder Singh and David Doig, in a Japanese Lancer 1600, yesterday appeared set to win the 1976 Safari rally, the world’s toughest car rally. At the 'Eldoret check-point over half way along the final 1971 kilometre leg, Joginder had just 56 penalty points. His nearest rivals, Robin Ulyate of Britain and the

Kenyan. Chris Bates., in an-! other works Lancer 1600, were 40 points behind with 96 penalty points. For Singh, it would fulfil a great ambition. He has won the rally twice before, in 1965 'and 1974, and is determined to be the first man to win the gruelling event three times. Singh, aged 44, got into rallying relatively late in life when he was 26, but he ! learnt to drive at 13 and (from his earliest youth was never very far from a garbage, tinkering with cars. ! But triumph, if it comes, I will be marred by an acci-

dent on Sunday when Singh's car hit an old woman in Kisumi near Lake Victoria. She was taken to hospital in a serious condition. The event has again lived up to its tough reputation. One discontented Scandinavian mechanic said yesterday: “This is a rally for tractors, not cars.” Most of the top Scandinavian drivers are already out.

A factory-entered Peugeot 504, driven by the Britons Bert Shankland and Brian Barton, is currently third with 97 points, followed by a factory Lancer 1600,

crewed by the Britons Andrew Cowan and Johnstone Syer. In fifth place, halfway through the final stage, is another factory Peugeot, crewed by Sitno Lampinen of Finland and Arne Hertz of Sweden. With the rally now in its closing stages, the manufacturers’ prize has developed into a duel between Lancers, Peugeots and Datsuns. Retirements on Sunday included the factory Lancia Stratos of the Italians, Sandro Munari and Silvio Maiga, the factory-Datsun

710 of Kenyans Shekhar Mehta and Mike Doughty and a privately-entered Datsun 710 of Kenyan Robert Collinge and West German Bernd Ender. Four of the cars which dropped out of the rally yesterday included two works Datsun 710 s, ending the Japanese firm’s hopes of winning points towards the world manufacturers’ championship. Only two worksentered Datsuns are still running. Another retirement was the 1973 New Zealand Heatway Rally driver, Hannu Mikkola of Finland.