East Africa Safari Rally

First run in 2003, the dates for the next East African Safari Classic Rally for pre-1987 cars have been announced as 9-18 December, 2023.  Entries open on 3 October 2022.

The nine-day event will cover some 4,000 kilometres of rough terrain that include 2100kms of timed special stage sections.  Starting and finishing in Mombasa, after a hiatus due to COVID, the route will again take competitors for stages in Tanzania.  Previous winners of the Classic include motor sport legends, the late Björn Waldegård, Ian Duncan, Stig Blomqvist, Rob Collinge, Carl Tundo and most recently, Baldev Singh Chager. 

Photo McKlein Images Courtesy Safari Classic

Chairman of the Organising Committee, Joey Ghose, writes in his introduction to the event brochure, “The word ‘Safari’ in Swahili literally means a ‘Journey’ and is exactly what the EASCR represents as it tries to emulate those bygone days when, each Easter, the adventurous amongst us set out in our family saloons, having made the slightest modifications to the car, to just try and complete a 5,000 kilometre ‘Safari’ in five days and nights across East Africa.  All the support came from friends and family and all that really mattered was that we all had the greatest time of our lives and talked about it for the rest of the year, if not our lives!

Although times have changed, we at the EASCR continue to strive to provide an event that brings back the spirit and camaraderie the original EASCR provided whereby each entrant was part of the journey and the ultimate goal was just to get to the finish.”  Through his Minti Motorsport Group, well known in Kenya for its rally successes, Ghose has provided historic rally cars for local drivers in a bid to make the event more accessible to all.  Feeling adventurous?  See www.eastafricansafarirally.com for the details.