Page 26 - EASCR22

T h e D r iv ers cont inued
The Drivers continued

Passionate Supporter
Geoffs' support of the event extends beyond just his
entry, and encouraging others to enter (such as
returnee Andrew Siddall – more on him in a bit), but
Geoff has also assisted with sponsorship on numerous
occasions. And for 2022 his latest Kenyan venture,
Ocean Sports Resort in Watamu, will play host to the
finish and prize giving of the rally! Geoff has event
cleared out and levelled a whole piece of land behind
the tennis courts to use as the service area and parc
ferme for the last two days of the rally!

Geoffs' pace is also in no doubt. His last three Kenyan
Rallies have all netted him podiums – the 2018 Top Fry
Classic, the 2019 Top Fry and the 2021 Mini Classic his first attempt, back in 2011, Andrew has shown
have all seen him finish on the podium. In fact the flashes of pace but has been stymied by bad luck and
Mini Classic in November was one of the most mechanical woes. His best result was 11 overall in
th
competitive outings for Geoff and co-driver Tim 2013 and he has since sat the last two editions out.
Challen. It is widely assumed that a puncture will cost
around 3 minutes to change. Geoff and Tim had three To and fro!
mid stage punctures during the rally and still finished
Andrew did return to Kenya in 2018 to contest the Top
only 7 minutes behind the victors, taking two stage Fry Classic Rally which he was supposed to do in his
wins along the way.
regular Datsun, but delays with shipping saw a last
minute swap to a Porsche 911. His Datsun actually
Geoff admits that this was a comfortable pace and arrived in Kenya on the day of the start, sat here until
intends to stick to the same speed on the main event. the 2019 edition, which he didn't do as it clashed with
With nearly 10 years of time and money developing the RAC in the UK, and then was shipped back
the gorgeous sounding Datsun Geoff is comfortable
overseas just in time to turn around and be shipped
with the car and insists that, whilst the competition back to Kenya for the November Classic… which was
will be tough, he hasn't entered to make up the then postponed! Andrew hasn't actually seen the car
numbers!
since early in 2018! But hopefully he will get a short
test ahead of the nine day marathon…
He is equally as positive about the new direction that Its' good to see these stunning Datsuns take to the
the event is headed, and gratefully acknowledges the start and we look forward to seeing them both at the
efforts that Joey Ghose has put into reviving the spirit
finish in Watamu. See you guys at Ocean Sports for a
of this amazing rally.
cold beer!
Andrew Siddall & Gary McElhinney
Kailesh Chauhan & Tariq Maliq

Andrew Siddall Gary McElhinney
One driver who has had a strange dynamic with the
East African Safari Classic Rally is Andrew Siddall. From Kailesh Chauhan Tariq Maliq

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