Safari Rally Kenya 1997

Entries
52
Starters
52
Finishers
19
Distance
1318.00km

Overall winners

Richard Burns
-
Robert Reid

Ian Duncan
-
David Williamson

Finishers (3)
Retirements (12)

Finishers

Pos.	No.	Driver	Co-driver	Car	Class
6	16	Frédéric Dor	Kevin Gormley	Subaru Impreza 555	A8
9	26	Johnny Hellier	Stefano Rocca	Subaru Impreza WRX	N4
19	45	Toshioki Awazawa	Toshiaki Suzuki	Subaru Impreza WRX	N4

Retirements

No.	Driver	Co-driver	Car	Class	Reason
4	Kenneth Eriksson	Staffan Parmander	Subaru Impreza WRC97 S5	A8	Suspension
9	Patrick Njiru	Rick Mathews	Subaru Impreza WRX	N4	Engine
22	Paul Bailey	Robert McIntyre	Subaru Legacy RS	N4	Retired
24	Nazir Verjee	Peter Stone	Subaru Impreza 555	A8	Retired
25	Jamil Khan	Shammi Singh	Subaru Impreza WRX	N4	Retired
28	David Williams	John King	Subaru Impreza WRX	N4	Retired
36	Ramesh Bhatt	Yutaka Asami	Subaru Legacy RS	N4	Retired
43	Subash Gosrani	Madhu Modasia	Subaru Legacy RS	A8	Retired
46	Shabbir Ganiwalla	Abdul Rehmnaji	Subaru Impreza WRX	A8	Retired
48	Shahnawaz Murji	Fayrid Abdulla	Subaru Impreza WRX	N4	Retired
54	Muto Isao	Mike Mwangi	Subaru Vivio RX-R	N1	Retired
61	Adam Ismail	Musa Pratt	Subaru Impreza WRX	N4	Retired

Note: As a fan of Subaru the list only includes the teams driving a Subaru. This mostly to keep focus. The full results for this rally can be found on eWRC

Introduction

As one of the World Championships classics, the 45th edition of the event, will count towards both the FIA World Rally Championship for Makes and Drivers. The showcase, Kenya’s top single sporting event, will run from the 28 of February – 3rd of March 1997 slotting in third among the fourteen rounds that form the global series. The 555 Safari is, incidentally, the only World Rally Championship event ran on African soil.

As in 1995 and 1996, a separately classified event, running in tandem with the main one, will be run and known as the ‘555 Classic Safari’. It will be open to vehicles built before January 1 1980, and their period derivatives, and ‘Safari Group T’ off-road vehicles. Cars built before the 1st of January 1980 will be split in two – those built before January 1 1966 in one class, while those built between 1 January 1966 and 31st December 1979 in another.

The route

In line with the emerging trends in World rallying, the 555 Safari continues to make various changes to keep abreast with the rest of the World. The event will retain a’clover-leaf route pattern designed essentially with costs in mind. An all-new section between Hunters lookout on the Magadi road and Timbuctoo will be used in a rally for the first time.

What’s new in 1997?

The ‘World Rally Cars’ – the exciting new breed of cars for the 1997 World Championship – will make their African debut.
Service parks, widely embraced on every other World Championship event, will feature after every competitive section allowing crews to centralise service and consequently trim operational costs.
Revolutionary, new timing equipment will be in use during the event.
Use of the Internet and World-Wide Web to transmit Rally results worldwide.

The sponsors

BAT Kenya Ltd. will, for the third straight year, carry the mantle of prime sponsors. BAT is the country’s largest tobacco product manufacturer and also one of the nation’s top commercial firms. They are currently the single largest sponsor of sport in the country and their rally outfit, the Sportsman Team, one of the most successful.

Kenya Shell Ltd. has been associated with the Safari since the events formative years. Shell’s involvement in Kenyan motorsport circles is legendary A number of prominent competitors have, and still use Shell oils and Lubricants to great effect.

Kenya Airways. Recently privatised, Kenya Airways is the 555 Safari’s official carrier The ‘Pride of Africa’ has flown the events dignitaries, competitors, support crew, journalists and rally enthusiasts for the past 18 years. The relationship between the event and the airline is deeply embedded and has continued to grow from strength to strength over the years.

Event photo's

Photo's are an important part to keep the memory to the Safari Rally alive. Only the best are taken from personal archive to be displayed. They are collected over the past years and were found on a variaty of medium (including old forums!). Be aware most of them have copyright on them and you should enjoy them on this website and not take them.

Memorabilia

It is amazing how many items are still around! Friends from around the world helping a lot. There's great joy in sharing these items with you. All these items are in private collection and carefully stored and documented. The collection will never be 'complete', but slowly new historic pieces are being added. Visit the website occasionally to find the new gems and go back to memory lane.