WRC Flashback: The pace versus preservation battle that helped Burns tame Safari Rally

To finish first, first you have to finish. It is one of the great motorsport proverbs that will be in the forefront of drivers’ minds when the World Rally Championship heads to Kenya this week.

That’s because Safari Rally Kenya is renowned for being one of motorsport’s most brutal and gruelling events, where drivers and machines are tested to the limit. To conquer this rally requires a blend of speed, ingenuity, patience and luck. It’s a rally that often rewards a clever approach rather than a flat out attack - a trait Britain’s most recent world rally champion, the late Richard Burns displayed, 25 years ago.

“It is one of the most satisfying [events] to get round in one piece,” said Burns, ahead of the 2000 Safari Rally, held a year before becoming world rally champion. “If you get to the end of a section in one piece then normally you have a good time.”

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Burns’ words back then represent sage advice for today’s current crop of WRC stars even if the modern Safari Rally is a 383km blast compared to the 1047km open road three-day marathon that awaited crews in 2000.

A quarter of a century ago Burns and co-driver Robert Reid, driving for Subaru, headed into the Safari Rally having already conquered the rally in 1998, donning the red and white colours of Mitsubishi. It marked a period of Safari Rally domination by British drivers with Colin McRae winning in 1997 and 1999, before adding a third in 2002. In 1999, McRae triumphed after Burns surrendered the lead when his Subaru Impreza succumbed to the conditions. Subaru’s Burns and Ford’s McRae would again be among the favourites to renew their Safari Rally battle 12 months on.

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Neither headed the field after the first stage as 1994 world champion Didier Auriol gave SEAT the lead of a WRC event for the first time. It was short-lived as Burns’ speed and patience came to the fore, resulting in three stage wins. That translated into a 4m28s lead from three-time Kenya winner Subaru team-mate Juha Kankkunen, who will act as Toyota’s team principal this weekend.

While Burns made it look easy, it was far from it as the perils of the Safari Rally had been made all too clear. Reigning world champion and points leader Tommi Makinen was the first victim, retiring after picking up three punctures and damaged suspension. Kankkunen was fortunate to reach the end of the day after striking a cow that had wandered into the road.

McRae and Carlos Sainz also suffered as their Ford Focuses suffered punctures and broken suspension, leaving the pair fifth (+13m32s) and 10th (+24m58s) respectively, while a fresh faced Petter Solberg led the blue oval charge in fourth behind Auriol.

“I said before the rally that if I was setting fastest times then I am probably going a bit too fast because you can win this event without setting any fastest times, as long as you get through the event cleanly, and that is my plan,” said leader Burns.

“I don’t want to set the quickest times I just want to get to the end and if we can do that everyone else is chasing and it will take a lot to get that time back off me if I don’t have any trouble.”

Burns was correct. The Subaru driver now had the relative luxury of a healthy lead as the rally embarked on leg two that would see crews cross the equator, competing in temperatures nudging 40 degrees. Burns set the fastest time on stage five before easing the pace knowing that disaster could strike at any moment.

At the end of stage seven his victory hopes hung in the balance when his Impreza’s engine shut down - a sensor deemed the engine was too hot. Burns quickly poured water on the sensor and luckily the car coughed back into life.

While water saved Burns, the same couldn’t be said for McRae, who had recovered to third. On stage eight McRae misjudged a water crossing that flooded his Ford’s engine, ending his rally on the spot.

“Maybe spectators or something had dammed the river and it was slightly deeper, but it shouldn’t have been that bad,” said McRae. "We were just very unlucky. We followed the natural line through it and it must have been just a bit deeper than it was on the right hand side.”

Heading into the final day armed with a 4m55s lead over Kankkunen after surviving an engine scare, Burns was aware victory was not guaranteed admitting “Safari is always Safari.” His point backed up by the fact two thirds of the cars entered had retired at this point.

With cruise control engaged, Burns and Reid avoided any pitfalls on the final day proving that speed isn’t the prerequisite for victory at the Safari, recoding a second event win from Kankkunen, with Auriol third for SEAT, an incredible 22 minutes adrift.

“If you do it right then it looks easy but I can tell you there is a lot of work before that,” reflected Burns.

A perfect blend of speed and ingenuity delivered a victory that rocketed Burns from seventh to second in the championship standings, where the Brit would ultimately finish the year, five points adrift of champion Peugeot’s Marcus Gronholm.

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