1999 Safari Rally

The 1999 Safari Rally was a motor racing event for rally cars that was held over four days between 25 and 28 February 1999. It marked the 47th running of the Safari Rally, and was the third round of the 1999 World Rally Championship season.^[2] The 1999 event was based in the city of Nairobi in Kenya and was contested over thirteen special stages, covering a total competitive distance of 1,009.91km (627.53 miles).

1999 Safari Rally 47th 555 Safari Rally
Round 3 of 14 in the 1999 World Rally Championship ← Previous event Next event →
Host country	Kenya
Rally base	Nairobi
Dates run	25 – 28 February 1999
Stages	13 (1,009.91 km; 627.53 miles)[1]
Stage surface	Gravel
Transport distance	1,640.33 km (1,019.25 miles)
Overall distance	2,650.24 km (1,646.78 miles)
Statistics
Crews registered	45
Crews	45 at start, 24 at finish
Overall results
Overall winner	Colin McRae Nicky Grist Ford Motor Co Ltd 8:41:39

Tommi Makinen was the defending rally winner, as was Team Mitsubishi Ralliart. Having won both rallies of the season so far, Makinen lead the championship with twenty points; thirteen more than closest rival Juha Kankkunen.

Colin McRae, along with co-driver Nicky Grist won the rally, their first win of the season, and first win since the 1998 Acropolis Rally, giving them their first points of the season.^[3]

Background

Entry list

The following crews were set to enter the rally. The event was open to crews competing in the World Rally Championship, as well as privateer entries that were not registered to score points in the manufacturer's championship. Ten were entered under Group A regulations to compete in the World Rally Championship's Manufacturers' Championship.^[4]

Group A entries competing in the World Rally Championship

No.	Driver	Co-Driver	Entrant	Car	Tyre
1	Tommi Makinen	Risto Mannisenmaki	Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI	M
2	Freddy Loix	Sven Smeets	Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI	M
3	Carlos Sainz Sr.	Luis Moya	Toyota Castrol Team	Toyota Corolla WRC	M
4	Didier Auriol	Denis Giraudet	Toyota Castrol Team	Toyota Corolla WRC	M
5	Richard Burns	Robert Reid	Subaru World Rally Team	Subaru Impreza S5 WRC 99	P
6	Juha Kankkunen	Juha Repo	Subaru World Rally Team	Impreza WRC 2006	P
7	Colin McRae	Nicky Grist	Ford Motor Co Ltd	Ford Focus WRC 99	M
8	Petter Solberg	Fred Gallagher	Ford Motor Co Ltd	Ford Focus WRC 99	M
9	Harri Rovanpera	Risto Pietilainen	SEAT Sport	SEAT Cordoba WRC	P
10	Piero Liatti	Carlo Cassina	SEAT Sport	SEAT Cordoba WRC	P

Itinerary

All dates and times are EAT (UTC+3).

Date	No.	Time span	Stage name	Distance
25 February	SS1	15:00	Cheetah Anza - Isha 1	2.42 km
		15:05	Service A, Jamhuri Park	—
26 February		9:55	Service B, Plains Park	—
	SS2	10:25	Isinya - Orien 1	112.40 km
		11:25	Service C, Plains Park	—
	SS3	12:11	Olooloitikosh - Kajiado 1	49.06 km
		12:38	Service D, Plains Park	—
	SS4	14:07	Hunters Lookout - Timbuctoo	72.56 km
		14:53	Service E, Plains Park	—
	SS5	16:00	Lenkili - Il Bisel 1	113.41 km
		17:15	Service F, Plains Park	—
27 February		6:40	Service G, Equator Park	—
	SS6	7:33	Elmenteita - Olenguruone	89.13 km
		9:10	Service H, Equator Park	—
	SS7	10:35	Nyaru - Eldama Ravine	87.59 km
		12:10	Service I, Equator Park	—
	SS8	13:42	Morendat - Mbaruk	81.40 km
		14:50	Service J, Equator Park	—
	SS9	15:59	Marigat - Gari Ya Moshi	124.65 km
		17:00	Service K, Equator Park	—
28 February		6:37	Service L, Plains Park	—
	SS10	7:33	Lenkili - Il Bisel 2	113.41 km
		8:46	Service M, Plains Park	—
	SS11	9:26	Isinya - Orien 2	112.40 km
		10:28	Service N, Plains Park	—
	SS12	11:14	Olooloitikosh - Kajiado 2	49.06 km
		11:41	Service I, Plains Park	—
	SS13	14:00	Cheetah Anza - Isha 2	2.42 km

Report

Overall

Classification

Position	No.	Driver	Co-driver	Entrant	Car	Time	Difference	Points
1	7	Colin McRae	Nicky Grist	Ford Motor Co Ltd	Ford Focus WRC 99	8:41:39	0.0	10
2	4	Didier Auriol	Denis Giraudet	Toyota Castrol Team	Toyota Corolla WRC	8:56:05	+14:26	6
3	3	Carlos Sainz Sr.	Luis Moya	Toyota Castrol Team	Toyota Corolla WRC	8:59:46	+18:07	4
4	12	Ian Duncan	David Williamson	Toyota Kenya	Toyota Corolla WRC	9:05:35	+23:56	3
5	8	Petter Solberg	Fred Gallagher	Ford Motor Co Ltd	Ford Focus WRC 99	9:26:28	+44:49	2
6	9	Harri Rovanpera	Risto Pietilainen	SEAT Sport	SEAT Cordoba WRC	9:40:08	+58:29	1
7	16	Frederic Dor	Kevin Gormley	F. Dor Rally Team	Subaru Impreza S5 WRC 97	9:41:38	+59:59	0
8	14	Hamed Al-Wahaibi	Tony Sircombe	Mitsubishi Ralliart	Mitsubishi Carisma GT Evo V	10:05:09	+1:23:30	0
9	15	Asensio Luis Clement	Alex Romani	Valencia Terra y Mar	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III	10:08:24	+1:26:45	0
10	20	Hideaki Miyoshi	Eido Osawa	Hideaki Miyoshi	Subaru Impreza WRX	10:42:00	+2:00:21	0
11	18	Jonathan Toroitich	Mahesh Saleh	Jonathan Toroitich	Toyota Celica GT-Four	11:21:28	+2:39:49	0
12	17	Manfred Stohl	Peter Muller	Manfred Stohl	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III	11:41:42	+3:00:03	0
13	23	Rob Hellier	Des Page-Morris	Rob Hellier	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo	11:48:44	+3:07:05	0
14	26	John Lloyd	David Horsey	John Lloyd	Subaru Impreza WRX	11:51:31	+3:09:52	0
15	34	Shahnawaz Murji	Mohammed Verjee	Shahnawaz Murji	Subaru Impreza	12:22:27	+3:40:48	0
16	33	Hardeep Reshi	Kamaljeet Ubhi	Hardeep Reshi	Subaru Impreza WRX	12:32:32	+3:50:53	0
17	22	Mark Tilbury	Bill Kirk	Mark Tilbury	Nissan Pulsar GTi-R	13:19:32	+4:37:53	0
18	24	Phineas Kimathi	Abdul Sidi	Phineas Kimathi	Hyundai Coupe	13:26:16	+4:37:53	0
19	28	Jimmy Wahome	Tom Muriuki	Jimmy Wahome	Subaru Impreza WRX	13:44:26	+5:02:47	0
20	39	Lee Rose	Piers Daykin	Lee Rose	Subaru Impreza WRX	13:51:22	+5:09:43	0
21	39	Paramjit Sehmi	Kashif Sheikh	Paramjit Sehmi	Subaru Impreza WRX	14:18:53	+5:37:14	0
22	21	Jamil Khan	Surinder Thatthi	Jamil Khan	Subaru Impreza WRX	14:23:42	+5:42:03	0
23	41	Stefano Rocca	Saleem Haji	Stefano Rocca	Subaru Impreza WRX	14:45:55	+6:04:16	0
24	43	Shahid Essajee	Shammi Singh	Shahid Essajee	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo	15:36:27	+6:54:48	0
Retired SS13	1	Tommi Makinen	Risto Mannisenmaki	Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI	Excluded		0
Retired SS13	30	John Ngunjiri	Thuita Karanja	John Ngunjiri	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo	Retired		0
Retired SS11	10	Piero Liatti	Carlo Cassina	SEAT Sport	SEAT Cordoba WRC	Engine		0
Retired SS9	35	Michelle van Tongeren	Safina Hussein	Michelle van Tongeren	Subaru Impreza WRX	Excluded		0
Retired SS9	37	Don Smith	Simon Bates	Don Smith	Ford Escort RS Cosworth	Retired		0
Retired SS7	5	Richard Burns	Robert Reid	Subaru World Rally Team	Subaru Impreza S5 WRC 99	Suspension		0
Retired SS7	25	Rory Green	Orson Taylor	Rory Green	Subaru Impreza WRX	Retired		0
Retired SS7	31	Alastair Cavenagh	Crispin Sassoon	Alastair Cavenagh	Subaru Impreza WRX	Suspension		0
Retired SS7	36	Azar Anwar	Raffiq Cassam	Azar Anwar	Hyundai Elantra	Driveshaft		0
Retired SS6	29	Gregory Kibiti	George Mwangi	Gregory Kibiti	Hyundai Coupe	Suspension		0
Retired SS6	45	Tinu Khan	Amaar Slatch	Tinu Khan	Subaru Legacy RS	Accident		0
Retired SS5	19	Emmanuel Katto	Peter Stone	Emmanuel Katto	Subaru Impreza S5 WRC 98	Engine		0
Retired SS5	50	Brendan Fernandes	Tony Kimondo	Brendan Fernandes	Hyundai Elantra	Retired		0
Retired SS4	38	Peter Karwigi	Peter Macharia	Peter Karwigi	Subaru Legacy RS	Retired		0
Retired SS3	2	Freddy Loix	Sven Smeets	Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI	Accident		0
Retired SS3	6	Juha Kankkunen	Juha Repo	Subaru World Rally Team	Impreza WRC 2006	Electrical		0
Retired SS3	40	Shabir Hussein	Diamond Lalani	Shabir Hussein	Subaru Legacy RS	Retired		0
Retired SS3	49	Alan Kuria	Baga Singh	Alan Kuria	Mazda 323	Retired		0
Retired SS2	11	Bruno Thiry	Stephane Prevot	Subaru World Rally Team	Subaru Impreza S5 WRC 98	Electrical		0
Retired SS2	44	Ghalib Hajee	Sameer Nanji	Ghalib Hajee	Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD	Mechanical		0
Retired SS2	48	Asad Khan	Adil Khan	Asad Khan	Subaru Impreza WRX	Mechanical		0

Special Stages

All dates and times are EAT (UTC+3).

Day	Stage	Time	Name	Length (km)	Winner	Time	Rally leader
1 25 Feb	SS1	15:00	Cheetah Anza - Isha 1	2.42	Juha Kankkunen	1:53	Juha Kankkunen
2 26 Feb	SS2	10:25	Isinya - Orien 1	112.40	Richard Burns	48:25	Richard Burns
	SS3	12:11	Olooloitikosh - Kajiado 1	49.06	Carlos Sainz	22:38	Carlos Sainz
	SS4	14:07	Hunters Lookout - Timbuctoo	72.56	Richard Burns	36:11
	SS5	16:00	Lenkili - Il Bisel 1	113.41	Tommi Makinen	59:57	Richard Burns
3 27 Feb	SS6	7:33	Elmenteita - Olenguruone	89.13	Richard Burns	42:56
	SS7	10:35	Nyaru - Eldama Ravine	87.59	Carlos Sainz	56:26	Colin McRae
	SS8	13:42	Morendat - Mbaruk	81.40	Tommi Makinen	41:03
	SS9	15:59	Marigat - Gari Ya Moshi	124.65	Carlos Sainz	1:01:03
4 28 Feb	SS10	7:33	Lenkili - Il Bisel 2	113.41	Didier Auriol	1:00:22
	SS11	9:26	Isinya - Orien 2	112.40	Ian Duncan	50:22
	SS12	11:14	Olooloitikosh - Kajiado 2	49.06	Tommi Makinen	22:59
	SS13	14:00	Cheetah Anza - Isha 2	2.42	Tommi Makinen	1:56

Championship Standings

Pos.		Drivers' Championship				Manufacturers' Championship
		Move	Driver	Points		Move	Manufacturer	Points
1			Tommi Makinen	20		1	Toyota Castrol Team	23
2		1	Didier Auriol	13		1	Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart	20
3		1	Carlos Sainz	10		2	Ford Motor Co Ltd	17
4		6	Colin McRae	10		2	Subaru World Rally Team	10
5		3	Juha Kankkunen	7		1	SEAT Sport	7