Tundo braces for tough Safari Rally after gritty shakedown

Five-time Safari Rally champion Carl ‘Flash’ Tundo expects a gruelling World Rally Championship event after a punishing 5km shakedown at Sleeping Warrior on Wednesday morning.

The shakedown, a crucial pre-rally test on a designated track, allows teams to finetune their setups before the high-stakes competition set to be flagged off today by President William Ruto at City Hall Way.

However, for Tundo and his long-time navigator Tim Jessop, it was a rough ride in their Ford Fiesta RC2, with mechanical issues surfacing early.

“Shakedown was rough, so we took it easy. The car has some issues, but we’ll sort them out tonight,” Tundo said.

Jessop highlighted troubles with the rev limiter, a setback compounded by the brutal nature of the Sleeping Warrior terrain.

“The track was rough, rocky and dusty...not ideal, but necessary. We only did one run and came back. The rev-limiter isn’t boosting past a certain point, but the team will check it overnight,” he explained.

With the legendary rally’s notorious opening stages looming, Tundo emphasised the importance of a clean run on Friday before mounting a serious charge over the weekend.

“The goal is to survive Friday unscathed because the course is extremely rough. Then we’ll reassess and push on Saturday and Sunday,” he noted.

Jessop recalled their past struggles on Friday stages.

“Friday has always been tough. We will try to keep it clean and dial it back a bit, especially on punishing sections like Camp Moran,” he said.

They are still adapting to the new car. “The new car is alright but I haven’t tested it much. The shakedown was our first time in it and it feels good,” Tundo said.

Tundo is hoping for rain, especially on Saturday, to inject an extra layer of excitement into the competition.

“On recce, it rained which was quite nice. Rain would be nice on Saturday because those are the fun stages to race in the mud, you get extra grip,” he said