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The Tuthill Safari Rally is part of Richard’s own history. His father first competed in 1981; Richard travelled to Kenya as a child to support him, and later drove the event himself during its World Rally Championship era. Today, from Tuthill’s Oxfordshire headquarters, he oversees the family-run engineering firm behind these rally programmes — an operation that spans bespoke Porsche builds and some of the most ambitious historic rallies in the world.
“We run more cars than anyone else in Kenya,” he says. In recent years, that has meant 22 rally cars, supported by dozens of service vehicles, engineers, doctors and logistics crew. It’s a scale that transforms what might appear extreme into something tightly controlled.
Yet the appeal is not purely mechanical. Richard speaks of a stillness that descends when a rally car door shuts. “You have one mission,” he says. “You don’t worry about emails or what’s happening in the world. You just get from A to B.” That singular focus is part of the draw.
The Safari is competitive, but it is also immersive. Drivers navigate long gravel stages where visibility can stretch for miles, then confront sudden hazards — river crossings, livestock, broken trucks lumbering along improbable roads. “Nothing compares to driving a car through Africa,” Richard says.
Preparation varies. Some arrive with experience, others with little more than resolve. Physical fitness matters, as does mental stamina. Long days in the heat test concentration, and co-driver relationships can be as demanding as the terrain itself.
Richard’s role, as he describes it, is that of a conductor. The team manages every element outside the cockpit — a full arrive-and-drive package — allowing drivers to focus on the road ahead.
Ice driving in Sweden often provides the first step. “You learn more about driving on a frozen lake in one day than you would in a year at Silverstone,” he says. It is “controlled chaos”, where mistakes end in soft snowbanks and lessons are absorbed quickly. From there, drivers progress to smaller rallies and ultimately to Kenya.
The support operation has become part of the legend. Richard recalls an engine change completed in 13 minutes on the edge of the African bush, a feat of coordination that kept a leading car in contention. Stories like that linger long after the dust settles, he says.
And then there is what happens afterwards. “Post rally depression,” he says with a laugh. Participants return home with photographs and stories few can fully grasp. The shared intensity forges unlikely friendships — New York financiers alongside Norwegian entrepreneurs — bound by WhatsApp groups and memories of African stages.
For yacht Owners accustomed to commissioning vessels and charting remote waters, the parallel is obvious. This is a discretionary, experience-led adventure: complex, rarefied and designed for those who measure experience differently. “It’s almost something you can’t buy,” Richard reflects. “But it’s something I would spend the same money on tomorrow to experience again."
Spaces are limited. To experience the Safari Rally — or begin with ice driving in Sweden — visit: tuthill.uk
Cecil Wright Curates
