Gearing up for round one of IRC The Safari Rally – round one of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge – has published its official entry list.
The event takes place this weekend, over some of the most legendary terrain in Africa. While the rally remains as tough as
ever, the route has very little to do with the car-breaking stages of the past.
To ensure maximum safety, all the stages are now run on closed public roads as opposed to the open public roads that characterised the event in the past.
Two Fiat Grande Punto S2000s are represented on the entry list, for Italian drivers Andrea Navarra and Umberto Scandola. For both drivers it will be the first time in Africa, although Navarra in particular has plenty of rally experience at the highest level.
Scandola will be climbing a steeper learning curve, but the talented young Italian has shown plenty of promise for the future.
As well as the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, the Safari Rally – based in Kenya – is also the opening round of the African Rally Championship, meaning that the IRC competitors will face a number of accomplished local specialists, many of them with an ‘A' seeding from the FIA.
Entry list for the Safari Rally
1 Patrick Emontspool (B) Benoit Daubie (B) A Subaru Impreza N12 N
2 Muna Singh (ZAM) David Sihoka (ZAM) B Subaru Impreza N
3 Andrea Navarra (I) Guido D´Amore (I) B Fiat Grande Punto S2000 * N
4 Umberto Scandola (I) Luigi Pirollo (I) Fiat Grande Punto S2000 * N
5 Hideaki Miyoshi (J) Hakaru Ichino (J) Mitsubishi EVO 9 * N
6 Conrad Rautenbach (ZIM) Peter Marsh (ZIM) Subaru Impreza N10 N
7 Alastair Cavenagh (EAK) Dez Page-Morris (EAK) Mitsubishi EVO 8 * N
8 Lee Rose (EAK) Piers Daykin (EAK) Mitsubishi EVO 8 * N
9 Luca Betti (I) Frederic Miclotte (B) Subaru Impreza N * N
10 Asad Anwar (EAK) Nick Patel (EAK) Mitsubishi EVO 7 * N
11 James Whyte (ZIM) Philip Archenoul (ZIM) Mitsubishi EVO 6 * N
12 Carl Tundo (EAK) Tim Jessop (EAK) Subaru Impreza N10 N
13 Emmanuel Katto (EAU) Moses Matovu (EAU) Subaru Impreza N10 N
14 Omar Bakhressa (EAT) Maisam Fazal (EAT) Subaru Impreza N12 N
15 Baldev Chager (EAK) Farak Yusuf (EAK) Subaru Impreza N12 N
16 Lola Verlaque (SA) Megan Verlaque (SA) Subaru Impreza N10 N
17 Navraj Hans (EAT) Frank Gitau (EAK) Mitsubishi EVO 4 * N
18 Paul Monge (ZAM) Ray Thornicraft (ZAM) Subaru Impreza N11 N
19 Pano Calavrias (EAT) Peter Stone (EAK) Subaru Impreza N10 N
20 Sammy Aslam (EAK) Abdul Sidi (EAK) Mitsubishi EVO 8 * N
21 Giaancarlo Davite (RWA) Sylvia Vindevogel (RWA) Subaru Impreza N10 N
22 Shusheel Shah (EAK) Mohamed Kana (EAK) Subaru Impreza N
23 Jouni Arolainen (FIN) Jarko Miettinen (FIN) N
24 Anwar Pandya (EAT) Kashief Shaikh (EAK) Subaru Impreza N10 N
25 Ahmed Huwel (EAT) Collin Higgins (EAT) Subaru Impreza N10 N
26 Issa Mohamed (EAT) Awadh Bafadhil (EAT) Subaru Impreza N
27 Eleffer Mitraros (RWA) Paolo Paganin (RWA) Subaru Impreza N
28 Ben Muchemi (EAK) George Njoroge (EAK) Subaru Impreza N8 N
29 Sushil Gohil (EAK) Julius Ngigi (EAK) Subaru Impreza N
30 Jaswinder Chana (EAK) Ravinder Chana (EAK) Toyota Celica N+
31 Robert Gow (EAK) George Mwangi (EAK) Mitsubishi EVO 6 * N
32 Yogesh Patel (EAK) Keith Henrie (EAK) Subaru Impreza N10 N
33 Dinesh Sachania (EAK) Kiran Patel (EAK) Subaru Impreza N
34 Don Smith (EAK) Sonal Smith (EAK) Subaru Impreza N10 N
35 Amarjit Dhillon (EAT) TBA Subaru Impreza N11 N
36 Peter Horsey (EAK) TBA Toyota Corolla RSi N
37 Paul Simenye (EAK) Steve Kimani (EAK) Subaru Impreza N
38 Iain Freestone (UK) TBA Datsun 180 B Classic
39 Steve Gacheru (EAK) Denis Kinoti (EAK) Subaru Impreza N
40 Richard Onyoni (EAK) TBA (EAK) Subaru Impreza N
41 Imran Mogul (EAK) TBA Subaru Impreza N
42 Aakif Virani (EAK) TBA Skoda Octavia N
43 Minesh Rathod (EAK) TBA Subaru Impreza N
44 Shaheed Wisaanji (EAK) Mo Verji (EAK) Subaru Impreza N
45 Ajaz Mirza (EAK) Arshad Khan (EAK) Subaru Impreza N
46 Salim Vayani (EAK) TBA Subaru Impreza N
* Car and driver eligible for IRC points.
Source IRC
