Days 7 & 8

Day 7 would see us enter Tanzania at Taveta before the first stages 75.86k between Kifaru and Nakkete. Around now the first signs of a problem that would dog us later began to raise its head. The clutch release bearing had started to get a bit noisy. At this point we also lost our diff guard which would soon have disastrous consequences . Stage 17 of the event 116.49k from Mwembe Rd 1 to Same proved to be a killer for the diff. The upper mounting broke allowing the diff to drop enough for a rock to go through the unprotected casing. Luckily one of the other competitors towed the car out and time loss was drastically cut. 35 minutes later the car was on its way again. Not a bad time for a 504 diff change.

This was to be the first of 2 nights at the Ngurdoto Mountain Lodge which was probably the worst place we stayed, not helped when we found our room already occupied by another crew.

Total days journey 501k stage 192.35k road 309.1k

Day 8 Sunday the 8th Dec would contain just 2 stages but the first was the longest of the entire rally. A massive 154.8k from Komolo Road to Meserani. Conditions in the stage were said to be very sandy & we were praying that the car wouldn't get stuck as the replacement diff had no LSD and was also 3.9 instead of 4.6:1. When the crew came out of the stage everyone gave a huge sigh of relief. One problem had however started to appear as the gear selection had become increasingly difficult & by now the release bearing was imitating a howling banshee. This was going to be something for the evening service. The final stage of the day ran from Longido to Sanya Juu, 61.74k