RTG Southern Cross Daily Dispatch low-res - Flipbook - Page 37
15 February to 5 March 2020
Day 19
Taita Hills to Watamu (286 km)
5 March 2020
Photos: gerardbrown.co.uk
The Rolners celebrate their Classic win; “Kenya is a beautiful country...”
The Ashworth cross line as overall Vintageant winners
Taita Hills has been described as “The beating
heart of East African Safari rallying”. And, this
morning, we were pleased to see that around 44
km of private estate roads within it were given
over to us, as well as a suitable number of ‘local
marshals’ who’d been engaged to keep a look out
for any uninvited four legged rally fans.
Once the fun had ended, and the crews had found their
way out of the vast Teita Estate, it was a run on fast tarmac
to the Time Control at Salty’s bar in Kilifi. Here the rally
enjoyed a seafood buffet in a relaxed beachside setting
before setting off for the finish line in Hemingway’s
Watamu. Fred Gallagher was on duty once again to wave in
the crews after their three week odyssey and to offer them
a refreshing ‘dawa’, a Kenyan cocktail - which they insist is
a medicine - containing vodka, lime, honey and crushed ice.
There were a few hours of downtime between the arrival
and the gala dinner which gave this medicine time to work
and ensured that everyone was fully fit for the evening.
A live band and the rolling surf gave us the soundtrack
for a glittering prize giving whilst Rikki Proffitt provided
the commentary. Keith and Norah Ashworth were crowned
the overall Vintageant winners and Lars and Annette Rolner
took top spot in the classics category.
Fred Gallagher thanked everyone for their enthusiasm,
energy and optimism in the face of some pretty epic
conditions and said that whilst this has been first African
event for Rally the Globe, he was certain it wouldn’t be the
last. Keith Ashworth was understandably delighted with
Within this agricultural amphitheatre the organisers had
set one Regularity and two Tests, using a variety of fast
unmade roads and some not quite so fast, barely trodden,
bush tracks. One of the quickest ever through this section
was Michelle Mouton in her Audi Quattro and, as the crews
gunned their engines, maybe one or two of them dared to
dream big.
The reality though, was hot, airless, and featureless, jungle
and, as we’d been promised, it required a pinpoint touch
with the tripmeter to make sense of it. One mistake meant
a one way ticket down the leaderboard - as Gavin and Diana
Henderson discovered, to their cost, during the Regularity.
www.rallytheglobe.com
