"Towards the end of the second stage both bolts fell out of the bottom of a front strut,” Alexander said from Africa.
“We fixed it in the stage by taking one bolt out of the other strut and using it to fix the broken one. The sad part was that just a couple of kilometres after the finish of the stage we hit a massive drift and one bolt was not strong enough to hold the suspension. There was a bang and wheel and strut disappeared over the bushes.
“We had to wait there for our service car and lost a bundle of time before we got into Naivasha last night. Today I'm afraid that the engine has lost a couple of cylinders thanks to broken valve springs."
Alexander finished fifth in the last Safari Rally, but now lies in 20th place.
Australian husband and wife team, Keith and Mary-Anne Callinan, lie 24th in a Ford Escort Mk 1.
"That's the real Africa,” Callinan said of the fourth day’s stages. “Almost like the Nullabor, but no kangaroos!
“We had a puncture in the first competitive section about half way through and then when we changed it the Escort fell off the jack. We hadn't done our tyre change practice like we should have done. But the rest of the day was great. We got a bit of pace and we could get the car moving and passed a couple of cars, which always feels good."
The other Australian husband and wife team of Ian and Val Swan lie 37th in their Volvo 242DL after a number of mechanical issues.
"It was nice to do three stages and not give the boys any work to do,” Ian Swan commented. “All we did all day was put petrol in and replace one tyre. We really enjoyed these fast stages. The road book was excellent and everything came up just spot on."
Melbourne’s Rob Garnsworthy and David Ogg are in around 50th place in their Ford Falcon after a number of problems.
The event is still being led by the Ford Escort of Bjorn Waldegard, nearly 10 minutes ahead of fellow former World Rally Champion, Stig Blomqvist, also in an Escort.
After Day 4:
1. Bjorn Waldegard/Mathias Waldegard, Ford Escort Mk1, 07h32m31s
2. Stig Blomqvist/Ana Goni, Ford Escort Mk1, 07h42m05s
3. Frederic Dor/Didier Breton, Porsche 911, 07h44m35s
4. Gerard Marcy/Alain Lopes, Porsche 911, 07h59m22s
5. Geoff Fielding/Preston Ayres, Porsche 911, 08h17m48s
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