After a well earned day of rest at the half way stage of the 4500km Kenya Airways East African Safari Classic Rally, the rains have arrived and are giving the surviving crews a new challenge as they head out into battle again.

Amongst them is still the VK Vodka Kick Datsun 206Z of Chesterfield driver Steve Perez and his co driver Mike Stuart who have held onto seventh place overall following on today’s stages in South East Kenya.

The car is now running or rear MCA suspension from Stefano Rocca’s 260Z which rolled out of the rally on the third day which has cured the rear beam problems but still the car is down on power.

The overnight rain had turned the old pipeline road from Loitokitok to Emali into a quagmire meaning difficult conditions for both the cars and service trucks, including the VK team’s truck which so far has had eight replacement shock absorbers and is running on three cylinders only! 

Not withstanding the conditions, Perez has re-acquainted himself with the local wildlife again today:

“After the conditions today, I thought I was back home on Wales Rally GB and not in Africa!” said Steve. “They call it ‘Black Cotton’ over here and the mud is horrendous and we saw lots of monkeys and giraffes but the most amusing thing was when Mike called out in the notes ‘Caution, Elephants for the next five miles…’! 

Co driver Mike Stuart said: "The suspension is a lot better and Steve drove a perfect pace. We got caught by Jonathan Savage in the first section but, as a local, he gave us a bit of a driving lesson in how to rally in these conditions and Steve was right on him until the end." 

Tomorrow, Perez and Stuart head into Tanzania with two classic sections just across the border before the night halt in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro at the Ngurdoto Mountain Lodge.

Leaderboard after Day 6

1    Bjorn Waldegard/Mathias Waldegard, Ford Escort Mk1, 09h 14m 03s

2    Stig Blomqvist/Ana Goni, Ford Escort Mk1, 09h 21m 08s

3    Frederic Dor/Didier Breton, Porsche 911, 09h 26m 53s

4    Gerard Marcy/Alain Lopes, Porsche 911, 09h 36m 48s

5    Geoff Fielding/Preston Ayres, Porsche 911, 10h 05m 21s

6    John Lloyd/Adrian Cavenagh, Datsun 240Z, 10h 16m 26s

7    Steve Perez/Michael Stuart, Datsun 260Z, 10h 21m 03s

8    Paul-Eric Jarry/Craig Redelinghuys, Porsche 911, 10h 22m 39s

9    Jonathan Savage/Quentin Savage, Datsun 260Z, 10h 34m 40s

10    Roddy Sachs/ Peter Young, Datsun 180B, 10h 48m 48s