The Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy team contesting this year’s East African Classic Safari Rally are celebrating the “craziness “ of the East African Classic Safari after reaching the finish of the gruelling ten-day event on Monday. “Craziness’ of the East African Classic Safari Rally

Sharing a Tuthill Porsche 911, the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy founder and patron John Coyne and the Academy’s Josh McErlean set off from Mombasa on December 9. By Monday this week, McErlean had covered nearly 2,100 km of competitive sections by the finish in Nairobi. Unfortunately for Coyne, an illness during the opening week forced him to withdraw from the event but Rally Academy co-driver Eoin Treacy was on hand to step into the co-driver’s seat to allow the Motorsport Ireland liveried Porsche to finish the legendary event.

Treacy had to cope with event rules including route details being kept secret until the night before each leg start and route amendments being dropped in the car’s window – night navigation trial style – minutes before each day’s departure. Along the way, the three Motorsport Ireland men suffered all sorts of trial and tribulation, from broken steering racks and gearboxes to setting the fastest time on both the opening prologue test and other fastest times through the week including the final stage into Nairobi on Monday.

They encountered flash floods, the wild animals that the Safari rally is famous for and the country’s equally famous helpful locals. Their team of Tuthill Porsche mechanics worked around the clock throughout the event’s ten-day duration to keep the Irish team in the rally. They finished a creditable 26th overall despite the event’s best efforts to force them onto the ever-growing retirement list.

“We made the end of this exciting adventure,” said McErlean at the finish on Monday. “It has been very crazy. Nothing like I've ever done before. I don't know how to describe it - the craziness from the open roads to the pacenotes [via Tulip diagrams] it was it was pretty crazy. We have enjoyed ourselves. “We had our fair share of ups and downs but we came through it and we kept on going. It was great to win the prologue and final stage of the rally.”

His stand on co-driver Treacy was in awe of the experience after being surprisingly drafted into the passenger seat following John's illness.

“It was absolutely mental. Fair play to Josh, some serious difficult stuff through all of them stages,” he said. “We got through it all and we had our issues along the way but it was an unbelievable experience.”

Motorsport Ireland licence holder Gary McElhinney was the best of the Irish competitors in Kenya. The Donegal-based co-driver guided Briton Andrew Siddall to seventh overall in a Datsun 240Z.

Source: Motorsport Ireland