THE PARCOURS

The first element that distinguished the Safari Rally in Kenya was that the stages were the roughest the cars would experience all season. It had more in common with the Paris-Dakar Rally (that long-distance off-road challenge which now rather confusingly retains its name despite its move to South America) than it did with Rallye Corsica, for example.

Desert savannah sand, the mud of the grassy plains and the sharp rocks of the unsurfaced road network all tested cars to extremes. It required a balance of speed and mechanical sympathy to nurse the modified cars through the long schedule of stages and for manufacturers it was an event where they could prove their metal.

The Chilkoot Safari would be no different. The parcours included sand, gravel and mud. The first speciale through the sand challenged legs and bike skills, but combine that with stormy sea winds and the introduction was a harsh one. As the riders headed inland to the Le Massif des Maures things were only to became a lot rougher.

This wild area west of Saint-Tropez gets its name from the Provençal word mauro, meaning dark pine wood. And in between the pines there is a network of gravel chemins forged by the local farmers and woodsmen who harvest the chestnut and other wood for various purposes including cork production. This road system was exactly what the Chilkoot band of pioneers were searching for.

Tube splitting, tyre shredding gravel, stones and rocks awaited. Just like their motorised counterparts, the racers had to find a balance between speed and vehicle preservation. The fastest of the group punctured multiple times. Another competitor was forced to tape up his rear tyre which had partially stripped itself to the carcass.

The mud meanwhile was spreading a disease amongst disk brakes. The grit and slime clogged calipers and melted brake pads resulting in a number of riders having no stopping power whatsoever. There simply was no solution to this other than to call in outside assistance, which came from the mission to recover a second Di2 battery which had been killed by the weather.

THE WEATHER

Kenya’s tropical climate and long ‘rains season’ meant one thing for the rally drivers and thier co-drivers. Humidity, heat, mud and running rivers.

And long rain is exactly what the Chilkoot pioneers found as they congregated on the salines of Hyéres. If you search for images of the cars that took on the east African Safari, you will notice the adoption of the snorkel air intakes to cope with the river crossings and the floods caused by the tropical rains. Snorkels were exactly what riders needed the start of this bike safari.

The water simply did not let up. And unfortunately some bikes let it in. One pioneer, xxxxxx, was running a high-tech bike – carbon frame, carbon wheels and Di2 electric shifting. When the incessant rain inevitably penetrated the frame this pioneer was quickly left with no gears and, like his rallying counterparts, had to attempt roadside repairs to the soaked battery and wiring.

The Massif des Maures may be close to the coast, but the various crooks and crevices of the rocky formation and the density of the trees meant that, along with the rain, the temperature dropped quickly. Cold hands and the aforementioned lack of brakes led to an early abandonment on day one for more than half of the field.

And so the pioneers decided that enough was enough and rolled together to Collobriéres, the village at the end of Jean Bobet’s first account of La Volupté. The bigger question on arrival was which patron in their right mind would accept this band of mud-caked, water-logged cyclists across their threshold ?

THE NAVIGATION

The Safari rally was the only event on the World Rally Championship to be run on open roads. This could be done because most of the extremely long stages traversed the wilderness, with no paved roads, and no directions. Getting lost was a common occurrence.

Chilkoot’s bike safari followed the same format but could have as easily been described as a hunt. The riders blasted off the line only to be followed one minute later by the rider behind – being chased down thick wooded chemins, through heaving rain, mist and fog, attempting to find the right path at each junction.

GPS routes had been provided for those with the technology but try reading a 5 x 2.5 cms screen in pouring rain whilst bumping over the large scale gravel of the Massif des Maures chemins. Otherwise, it was a case of memory and instinct having glanced at the roadbook, or alternatively waiting for the following rider and sitting on his wheel for the rest of the stage. Minutes were won on the descents, but lost again whilst we were, well, lost.

THE REWARD

The Safari Rally faded out as the cost of the uniquely longer and challenging event to the teams became too much and the modern format of rallies changed to become more compact and spectator friendly. The wild adventure in Africa was now an extravagance.

But flick through the rally history books and you’ll see nothing but a rose-tinted view. Manufacturers regarded a win in East Africa as almost equal to taking the world championship. But just to finish one of motorsport's toughest and most rewarding adventures was to succeed. So much so, that there is growing pressure and rumours that it will be reintroduced in 2019.

The Chilkoot Safari was only introduced in 2017 but for those who were there, who shared a beer on the return to Plage des Salins-d'Hyères, it should be the first entry in the calendar every season.

Footnotes:Photogrpahy - Manivelle.cc & Bereflex Photogrpahy