Flying Duncan Stays on Top

The former Safari Rally winner showed no signs of pressure since taking the lead on day two. His Good Year-sponsored Ford Mustang was quickest through all the three stages of the third day to move further away from his nearest challengers on the leader board. His lead has opened up from five seconds to over two minutes.

"I don't know whether it's the car or us feeling shaky and old. We need to look at the suspensions, otherwise we are happy with our performance," said Duncan after checking in at the Ngurudoto time Control.

Bjorn Waldegaard, who was the next driver to check in said he was happy with the day's performance though the stages were long and rough.

"I am now settling down with my navigator and things are working well for us and the car. We are happy with our performance," said the defending champion.

Meanwhile, disaster struck the South African team with two of its cars being forced out of the rally due to accidents.

Wayne Kieswetter and his co-driver Steve Harris were the first casualties of the event after they rolled their Datsun 180B in the second stage.

Kieswetter is suspected to have sustained an injury to the left shoulder. Roddy Sachs and his Kenyan navigator, Denis Mathews, were soon to destroy their Datsun 180B in the following stage.

Though Sachs was said to be okay, his navigator was reported to have complained of chest pains. The official medical team was flown to the scene of the accident for immediate evacuation.

Macy's chances faded

A South African private jet belonging to Kieswetter and carrying a personal doctor was expected to land at the Kilimanjaro Airport to pick the injured.

The "old guard" Waldegaard has so far driven steadily since securing second place four days ago driving a Porsche.

Englishman Steve Perez has climbed to third place driving a Datsun 260Z. This comes on the heels of having set quickest stage times through the world famous Taita Hill section.

World Rally Championship navigator, Denis Giraudet, who is in Car No29 with Hardev Singh Sira driving a Ford Escort Mk 1, could not hide his delight after successfully completing the Taita Hills stage.

"The stage is historic and monumental in terms of the image of the Safari Rally. I never got the chance to do it in my previous Safari rallies with Armin Schwarz and Didier Auriol. It is a rally stage known all over the world and I feel proud to have done it finally."

Gerard Macy's chances of staying with the leaders faded in stage 5 after his Porsche stopped with electrical problems.

After a good start, the Savage brothers, Quentin and Russell in a Datsun 180B, have dropped outside the top-20 after losing over 40 minutes in the second stage of the day. They have thus reversed places with their dad (Jonathan) who has moved into the top-six position driving a Datsun 260Z.

Meanwhile, the Kenya Airways East African Safari Classic Rally "cares" for all as chief medical officer Dr. Harjinder Chagger proved when his team of paramedics attended to an accident victim not related to the rally.

While up in the safety chopper, Harjinder was able to instruct mode of treatment to be provided to a pedestrian whose leg was broken after an accident with a non-competing vehicle on the Mombasa Highway.

"We had the facilities at hand and it was our duty to provide services at a time like this. The injured was well taken care off before the medics were able to take him to the nearest hospital," said Dr. Chagger. He said he would have instructed the pilot to bring the chopper down if the case needed his personal attention.

Meanwhile, the unsung heroines of the 10-Marathon rally are several ladies who volunteer to help their associates with much needed "home care" on terrains described by majority as unbearable.

Sabina Khan, wife of Arshard Khan not only takes care and feeds the husband, brother-in-law Aslam Khan, son Fahraaz during competition but also looks after the welfare of the members of the service crew and those lucky enough to pass by her tent.

"I enjoy being part of the team having done this for many years. I have a bigger stake in the competition with so many relatives actively competing," said Sabina.

At times she is assisted by Ruhina Mirza, wife to Ijaz and mother to Izhar who are also part of the ALS Rally Team. Ijaz and Izhar are well known drivers in the KNRC series. Sabina and Ruhina have plans to enter a rally as competitors in the near future.

Ann Troughton, another lady widely known in the motor sports circles is also here to maintain her support for Ian Duncan, Amar Slatch and members of Good-Year Tyres-sponsored the service crews.

For full details on (KNYAF) KNYAF. (KNYAF) has Short Term PowerRatings at TradingMarkets. Details on (KNYAF) Short Term PowerRatings is available at This Link.