Delight and despair for John Coyne on East African Classic Safari Rally

Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy founder John Coyne experienced both delight and despair over the opening weekend of the East African Classic Safari Rally. 

Coyne and Academy driver Josh McErlean are sharing Tuthill Porsche 911 in the East African Safari Classic Rally next month.

The East African Safari will run from December 9 to 18 and will cover 4,000 km including 2,100 km of competitive sections on classic Kenyan roads between Nairobi and Mombasa.

Their adventure got off to the best possible start and the Irish crew were fastest on the prologue stage on Saturday.

Although they set second fastest on the opening 120km section from Sokoke to Samburu they were forced to change a gearbox and steering arm before the second test.

Stage two was very fast and flowing and their Porsche 911 suffered two rear punctures – attributed to the heat.

Their backup team is made up of Rally Academy co-driver Eoin Tracey and Cahir Loftus, a friend of McErlean’s who has supported his entire rally career to date.

“They both said they had a good day,” explained Treacy.

“Stage one they settled very well and set a second quickest time. 

Stage three was quite a rough stage and early on in the stage an impact occurred and fractured the steering rack, after limping for a while they pulled in and repaired the offending part which allowed them to continue further.

 “Unfortunately it failed completely later in the stage and they did all they could but had to wait for mechanics to come in with a spare,” added Treacy.

 They ended the day in 43rd position overall but are ready for Monday’s opening 75km blast from the  Taita Sanctuary.

Donegal co-driver Gary McElhinney is the best of the Irish competitors. He sits in seventh place alongside Briton Andrew Siddall in their Datsun 240Z.

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