By Paul

Osian Pryce’s excellent start to the East African Classic Safari continued today, as he beat all the more powerful Porsches to set fastest time on the final stage of the day in his Ford Escort RS1600.

This means that after a typically rough and tough Safari Rally day, Pryce and co-driver Dale Furniss are in fifth position overnight in the Minti Motorsport-run Mark 1.

“It was a privilege to lead the crews away from the start ramp in Mombasa this morning,” said Pryce. “Three stages faced us today, and it was a tough start as we bent the steering on the first stage and dropped some time. I didn’t enjoy the second stage as it was really difficult to find the path being first on the road, but we coped okay.

“On stage three I was in ‘get me home mode’ and just drove as cleanly as I could and commit to the road book. We were chuffed to come away with the fastest time on a stage we enjoyed; we really didn’t expect this, as we were so cautious in places. We are fifth overnight, which is more than I expected.

“Thanks to the team, the car is repaired and good to go tomorrow. Time to drive even slower tomorrow!”

And so it probably will be, as tomorrow’s very long leg sees the rally journey out of Kenya and into Tanzania for five days of extreme rally action.