East African Safari Rally 2003

One week after the East African Safari Rally 2003 finished, the teams returned home and get a chance to review and summarize the event. For the Historic Rally Team, these are the Germans Wolfgang Pfeiffer and Peter Knoebel who participated in a 1971 Porsche 911 prepared by Francis Tuthill (Shell and Suspension), Wolfgang Reile (Engine and Gearbox) and Peter Knoebel (final installation).

The picture below shows the team members in Kenya in the White Sands Hotel Mombassa on the evening before the start. From right to left these are Peter Knoebel (co-pilot), Betty Hart (Peter’s Girl friend), Wolfgang Reile (of Classic Power, service) Bobby Sehmi (PAC Nairobi, service) Singh Ubhi (Bob, service), Marlies Pfeiffer and Wolfgang Pfeiffer (driver).

In review, having a combination of local experienced mechanics (Bob and Bobby) and special technical experts (Wolfgang Reile) in the service team has proven to be a very successful combination. When the team was running out of shock absorbers, only guys like Bob and Bobby could come up with yet another source for shock absorbers. They are both well experienced in Rally car servicing and know the local sources.

The brutal road conditions at the Safari Rally accelerate natural wear and tear beyond the reasonable. Wolfgang Reile did not only prepare engine and gear box well for this trip, having him as a part of the service team ensured that the engine performance (both power and torque) as well as gear box ratios were never a concern.

Without the excellent work of the service team, the car would not have made it to the finish line.

Some competitors put far more resources into the service by importing not only the rally cars but in some cases also semi-professional service vehicles with just far more equipment and spare parts than a “regular private” team could afford. However, our own service team clearly outperformed others by making things possible even without always having the proper equipment and parts at hand.

The rally car is now on its way back to Germany and its next stop is scheduled to be at the classic motor show in Stuttgart, scheduled for March 2004 where it will be displayed at the booth of Wolfgang Reile’s Classic Power.