1998 Safari Rally

1998 Safari Rally 46. Safari Rally Kenya 1998
Round 3 of 13 of the 1998 World Rally Championship ← Previous event Next event →
Host country	Kenya
Rally base	Nairobi
Dates run	28 February – 2 March 1998
Stages	16
Results
Overall winner	Richard Burns Team Mitsubishi Ralliart
Crews	49[1] at start, 19 at finish

The 46th Safari Rally Kenya was held between 28 February-2 March 1998.

It was the first World Rally Championship victory for Richard Burns and his co-driver Robert Reid after his team-mate Tommi Mäkinen and fellow Briton Colin McRae both retired.

Report

A total of 49 cars gathered in Nairobi for the Safari Rally of 1998. The young Briton, 27-year-old Richard Burns, won stage 1. But his more experienced team-mate, Tommi Mäkinen, snatched the lead in stage 2. He was determined to win for the second time, as 1996's winner. But his hopes were dashed after his timing belt broke, causing him to retire. Burns retained the lead as a result, held it to the end, and won his first WRC rally in his career. It was the Ford Escorts of the Finns Juha Kankkunen and Ari Vatanen, both previous Safari Rally winners, who completed the podium in second and third respectively.

Results

Results of the 1998 Safari Rally Kenya

Pos	No.	Driver	Co-driver	Car	Time/retired	Pts
1	2	Richard Burns	Robert Reid	Mitsubishi Carisma GT Evo IV	8:57:34.0	10
2	7	Juha Kankkunen	Juha Repo	Ford Escort WRC	+9:27.0	6
3	8	Ari Vatanen	Fred Gallagher	Ford Escort WRC	+9:52.0	4
4	6	Didier Auriol	Denis Giraudet	Toyota Corolla WRC	+14:26.0	3
5	11	Harri Rovanperä	Voitto Silander	Seat Ibiza GTi 16V Evo2	+2:05:38.0	2
6	16	Raimund Baumschlager	Klaus Wicha	Volkswagen Golf GTi 16V	+2:20:01.0	1
7	18	Luis Climent	Álex Romani	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III	+2:28:03.0	0
8	12	Kris Rosenberger	Per Carlsson	Volkswagen Golf Kit Car	+2:45:47.0	0
9	19	Marco Brighetti	Abdul Sidi	Subaru Impreza 555	+2:56:01.0	0
10	21	Karim Hirji	Frank Nekusa	Toyota Celica GT-Four	+3:03:29.0	0

References