In the early 1970’s, Bromley put his hand to Motor Rallying, winning several annual championships. He was later instrumental with much of the rally development of a Corolla “30” series saloon. The sluggish 1200cc engine was exchanged for a 1600cc twin cam, and later for a 2000cc Toyota/Yamaha twin cam unit. Navigated by Trevor Hall initially and later by John Mitchell, he enjoyed many successes, including a number of outright wins in Group One events and many top placings in the tough Kenya National Championships Rallies – often only being beaten by factory prepared works vehicles, with much greater budgets. In some events, he out drove the works vehicles too. By 1982, Bromley had topped the Automobile Association of East Africa’s seeding chart.
Coca-Cola Rally 1976
1976 Toyota Carina
1977
1980 Safari Rally
1980- Library photos
1980
1980
1981 Safari Rally
In 1980 and ’81, Bromley completed the 5,500 kilometre – Safari Rally, recognised at the time as the longest and toughest in the World Rally Championship (WRC) series, gaining second position in class 5. By 1982, Bromley had topped the AA ranking of East African seeded rally drivers.
1981 Safari Rally
1981 Safari Rally
1981 Safari Rally
Safari Rally Finish – 1981
1981
The 29th Safari Rally – 1981
The Safari Rally, initially known as the Coronation Safari Rally was first run in 1953. In 1973, then known as the East African Safari Rally, gained international status and was part of the World Rally Championship series. It became more competitive and much faster.
Rallying was my hobby. During the 1970s and early 80’s I drove in many Kenyan National Championship Rallies and also several East African Safari Rallies which were the longest and toughest in the World Championship Rally series (WCR).
In the 1981 Safari Rally, I entered a used 1978 Corolla. It started off life as a 1200cc saloon car. It was developed and prepared at our Nairobi workshops under my supervision. We installed the 1600 twin-cam engine from a Toyota Celica which with a rally conversion developed 135hp. This was roughly half of the power developed by the works prepared vehicles which we were competing against and which dominated the event.
We were flagged off at 11am on Thursday, 16 April and did not complete the event until 5pm on Monday, 20 April. The course was in excess of 5,000 kilometres (3000 miles); the majority of which was run on some of the roughest terrain imaginable. 1981 was also one of the wettest and muddiest in memory.
The 1981 event consisted of 3 legs. The first leg took us through Central and Western Kenya. I recall that the long rains had already started and road conditions were extremely muddy and slippery. In Western Kenya, the track between Kapenguria and Chebiemit, over the notorious Cheringani Hills was particularly hazardous. At one point, we hit an enormous hole, so large and deep, that it buckled the right hand front wing! Some 30 kilometres before Chebiemit, we developed a knocking sound from the front of the car. I was able to diagnose the sound as a loose front right-hand stabilizer bar. We contacted our service crew at Chebiemit, (we had radio communication) who were able to have the part ready to carry out an immediate repair.
On the second day, between Eldoret and Kamorin, we hit a protruding rock in the centre of the road. This had been caused by torrential rain which had washed away the top surface of the road surrounding the rock. It had split the back axle casing. Within seconds, I could smell the hot differential oil. We had a fairly bad leak, but fortunately, were only 20 kilometres from our next service vehicle. At the service point we drained the oil and gently opened the sides of the differential, and used gun gum (a solution for repairing leaking exhausts!), to seal the damaged differential casing. It was my intention to change the entire back axle assembly at the next major service point. However, against all odds, it did not leak again and we kept the same rear axle assembly until the end of the event.
At the end of both the first and the second legs, we carried out major services on the car. These included changing all the tyres, replacement of the front suspension legs and carrying out a multitude of checks. This took between 20-30 minutes.
The second leg to the coast and Eastern Kenya was fairly uneventful. However, conditions over the Chyulu Hills, which are roughly half way between Nairobi and Mombasa, were extremely hazardous and rough. There were sections in the hills where the track consisted mainly of large bolders which the best of “off road” vehicles would have had difficulties with. Not only did we have to face this on the way to the coast, but had to do so again on our return to Nairobi.
During the second leg, we did overtake a few of competing cars, including a works car, which was always a morale booster!
The third leg was run through Western and Northern Kenya.
On the final night, between Kaptagat and Nyaru, the alternator bracket cracked. It was spotted by our senior mechanic just after the Kaptagat bunching control. During the twenty or so minutes taken in replacing it, we lost nine valuable rally positions on the road. Our next section took us through the very rough and stony Kerio Valley where in spite of the blinding dust, we were able to regain 8 of the 9 lost positions. It took over 2 hours.
Our problems where by no means over! At Marigat, a swollen river had burst its banks, following a flash flood and was impossible to negotiate. The first few competing vehicles had been able to cross the river before it rose and became impassable. However, the next vehicle, which attempted the crossing was washed downstream. Conditions were far too dangerous to attempt the crossing without assistance. Our saving grace was Philip Waterer who was positioned on the opposite bank. Phillip manned a Range Rover back up/service vehicle the Peugeot works team. He very kindly offered to tow us all across. Such was the decency and sportsmanship of most participants and their crews in this event. We attached our car to his vehicle with a steel rope. We switched off the engine, sealed the carburettor inlets (to avoid the engine from inhaling water). As we entered the river, the car was partially dragged sideways by the strong current. The water lever was slightly higher than the top of bonnet. We were then pulled across at considerable speed. It was a very nerve racking experience and I was very relieved to reach the opposite bank.
We then headed north to hot, dry and desert-like conditions of Colcheccio. This was beginning of the final day! We then travelled east to Barsalinga and then south to the foot hills of Mount Kenya and the notorious Meru/Embu /Runyenges sections, famous amongst rally drivers for the 80+ hairpin bends. If you were not exhausted at the beginning of this section, you certainly were at the end!
By the time we finally completed the 5,000 kilometre, 1981 Safari on Monday 20th April, I had been in the driving seat for over 70 hours! We came second in class 5 and 13th overall. Over 50 of the 70 entrants retired.
I have made reference to a number of repairs which we carried out during the 5-day event. Many private entrants were excluded because they didn’t have the ability to attend to a particular mechanical problem. This could either be due to the positioning of their service crews in relation to their position or their service crew’s ability to rectify the problem. On the other hand, most of the works cars had aerial support and much better ground support and therefore much better qualified to deal with any problems. During my last 3 Safaris, we were somewhere between the two i.e. private and works. We did not have aerial support (our budget would not stretch to this) but we did have 6 service cars with 18 mechanics/helpers on the road and a further 6 personal running our 24 hour communications centre in Nairobi. We may not have been able to have carried out all the repairs necessary without the back-up which we had.
Guy’s Safari Rally team 1983
