As you’ll have recognized from studying and watching on DirtFish, the Safari went fairly properly for Elfyn and I. It was virtually fairly surreal by Saturday afternoon that we had this huge lead of just about three minutes. On another rally, you’d be pretty relaxed about the remainder of the occasion with a lead like that, however with the Safari you couldn’t loosen up in any respect; it may be taken away from you within the blink of a watch.
The plan for Sunday was, after all, to convey the automobile dwelling. We did have a little bit of a take into consideration doable powerstage factors – we thought we’d simply have a feel and look for the tempo after we acquired there. However earlier than that, there have been tough phases to come back. We have been fairly involved about how they might lower up, or I used to be. I feel Elfyn may need been a bit extra relaxed than me!
There’s little question, you want a little bit of luck in your facet to win the Safari. We’ve been recent out of luck in Kenya previously, however this time after we acquired a puncture, it was close to the tip of the stage after which we had the issue with the alternator belt on the ultimate day. Once more, we had time to repair this on the street part between phases.
For anyone like Elfyn, altering an [alternator] belt is not any huge deal. I’m not a nasty mechanic, however he’s acquired extra expertise. In moments like that, we all know what we’re doing and we simply get on with it – it’s important to remain calm and regulate the watch.
Once we got here by the tip of that stage and the Maasai have been ready for us, it was simply superb. There was loads of cheering and drums being banged – I acquired out of the automobile and couldn’t resist banging the drums.
