According to the French magazine Autohebdo, the stewards demanded during technical inspections that the rally cars’ horns must produce sound at a strength of 97 decibels.
A routine part of the rally week involves the cars being inspected before the shakedown. This time, however, there was an exception to the usual practices as the horns were subjected to closer scrutiny.
The French magazine reported that this caused surprises and ultimately led to a “comical play”.
Rally1 cars were seen moving back and forth to the inspection site to test their solutions. Autohebdo reported that honking resonated throughout the service park on Tuesday afternoon as teams adjusted their horns to be louder.
“This is something that hasn’t been done for a very long time,” one engineer remarked, scratching his head.
The same scene unfolded with the Rally2 cars as well. The inspection witnessed creative solutions.
“We took the horn from our rental car. We reached 94 decibels and hopefully, that’s enough,” said a mechanic whose team’s Hyundai i20 N Rally2 car’s horn sounded more like a Toyota Corolla’s.
The noise eventually quietened down as the evening arrived, and the teams could prepare for the challenging competition ahead.
The Safari Rally kicked off with the shakedown on Wednesday. The opening stage takes place in Nairobi on Thursday.
