Safaricom rings in to boost EA Classic Rally

The 2019 East African Safari Classic Rally has secured a partnership deal with Safaricom.

Safaricom will pump in Sh13m sponsorship to the ninth edition of the famous East African Safari Classic Rally.

The amount will support operations, logistics and communication during the rally which will take place between November 27 and December 6.

The rally is set to cover more than 4,500 kilometres in Kenya and Tanzania over nine days.

The East African Classic Safari Rally has been running biennially since 2003 and is open to two-wheel drive, naturally aspirated rally cars built before 1985.

“The preparation for the ninth edition of the East African Safari Classic Rally saw us evaluate more than 12,000 kilometres of roads resulting in an intense and exciting route selection for this year’s rally,” said Raju Kishinani, Chairman of the East African Safari Classic Rally.

“We are glad to have Safaricom as our main sponsor as this will help us attract a wide range of local and global talent.”

The race aims to showcase the beauty of the East African landscape with vehicles racing through world famous game parks, with overnight stops at the region’s finest lodges and hotels.

The rally will begin at Sarova Whitesands in Mombasa and run for four days in Kenya, before crossing over to Tanzania where stages will be raced across four days.

Competitors are set to cover approximately 500 kilometres every day in competitive stages of between 5km and 160km.

Some of the teams that have already confirmed participation are Tuthill Porsche, Freestone Rally Services, Minti Motorsport Oman, Team Tido Race 4 Health, ALS Motorsport and Safari World Africa.ENTRIES RECEIVED
1. Philippe Gache/TBA (Mazda RX7) French,

2. Geoff Bell/Tim Challen (Datsun 260Z) South African,

3. Raaji Bharij/Rajay Sehmi (Porsche 91) Kenyan,

4. Iain Freestone/TBA (Ford Escort MK) British,

5. TBA/TBA (Ford Escort MK) )TBA,

6. Gilberto Sandretto/Fabrizia Pons (Porsche 911) Italian,

7. Renee Brinkerhoff/TBA (Porsche 356) American,

8. Philip Kadoorie/TBA (Porsche 911) TBA,

9. Joe Hayes/Kate Hayes (Porsche 911) American,

10. Nish Lakhani/Teeku Patel (Datsun SSS 1600) Kenyan,

11. Joey Ghose/Stephane Prevot (Nissan 240RS) Omani,

12. Scott Armstrong/Harpal Singh Sudle (Datsun 160J) British,

13. Minesh Rathod/TBA (Colt Lancer) Kenyan,

14. Navraj Sagoo/Harneel Sagoo (Datsun 240Z) Kenyan,

15. Jan Hagman/TBA (Porsche 911) Swedish,

16. Jayant Shah/TBA (Porsche 911) Tanzanian,

17. Bernhard Kessel/Ronny Kessel (Porsche 911) German,

18. Kris Rosenberger/Nicola Bleicher (Porsche 911) Austrian,

19. Stig Blomqvist/TBA (Porsche 911) Swedish,

20. TBA/TBA (Porsche 911) Swedish,

21. TBA/TBA (Porsche 911) Swedish,

22. TBA/TBA (Porsche 911) Swedish,

23. Aslam Khan/Farhaaz Khan (Porsche 911) Kenyan.