Kenya's Daykin extends lead at Day Three of East African Safari Classic Rally
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Reading Time: 3min | Sun. 07.12.25. | 21:31
He now leads Baldev Chager by three minutes and 15.8 seconds
Kenya's Piers Daykin on Sunday, 7 December extended his lead on top of the MRF Tyres East African Safari Classic Rally leaderboard, even as the rally heads into its decisive stages.
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Coming into day three with a slender lead of one minute,19.1 seconds, Daykins consolidated his authority once more, ending with a cumulative time of 07:02:04.7, which inturn improved his advantage to fellow Kenyan Baldev Chager to three minutes, 15.8 seconds.
Daykin, driving a Datsun 280Z, described his day as one that largely went to plan, as he managed to stay clean, avoided mistakes, and pulled a small gap on his closest rival while keeping the car in good shape.
“Everything went to plan today," Daykin said. "I did not go off, and we managed to make a little bit of time on Baldev. The car is good, and we are still here with no damage, which is the most important thing.
I just need to look after the time on the stages this evening, because when we get back to the coast, we return to stages that I really dislike. So, you just have to make it work up here."
Chager remained Daykin's closest challenger, sitting second overall on 07:05:20.5.
After a long and technical day on the stages, Chager summed up the moments that really defined his run.
“Stage one was actually all right," he said. "It was quite tricky, but Piers had a really good time there. In stage two, we pushed a little bit and we were quickest, which was nice because it was much more technical driving and there was less attention needed for public roads, animals, and that sort of thing.
"It was a long, fun stage and I really enjoyed it. Stage three was also quite nice, but we had to stop on the stage when the brakes jammed and we went slightly off into the bank. Thankfully it was at low speed."
Dutch driver Remon Vos maintained his third position on 07:21:48.6, keeping the pressure on the leading pair, while Britain’s Harry Hunt moved into fourth overall on 07:23:44.8. Evgeny Kireev completed the top five on 07:27:15.5.
After a mixed day on the stages, Vos reflected on the highs and setbacks of his Safari Classic run, saying: “Stage one was beautiful. The weather was good, not too hot, with huge clouds in the mountains. It was a good stage with a mix of everything and a lot of turbulence.
Stage two was an obstacle for us because we broke the suspension halfway through the stage, so we had to take it easy for the rest of it and we lost a lot of time. That was not a good one. The last stage was great, I liked it. Overall, it was not too bad.”
From the other Kenyan entries, Farhaaz Khan remained inside the top 15 in 11th overall, while Asad Anwar sits 21st overall in Class 3, maintaining a consistent pace as he battles through the demanding Safari conditions.
Jos Verstappen, on the other hand, endured a difficult day, after retiring from the stage following car trouble.
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