After 17-years of waiting, Kenya’s long-cherished dream to return to global status has finally come to fruition, thanks to the successful bid the WRC Safari Rally Project presented to the world motorsports governing body, FIA.
The Safari Rally re-joins the 14 round 2020 World Rally Championship calendar which revs off with the prestigious Rally Monte-Carlo, as is a tradition.
"This places the iconic Kenyan round back onto the global series for the next three years up till 2022," said WRC Safari Project CEO Phineas Kimathi.
FIA rally director Yves Matton commented: “In order to further globalise the championship, we needed to have more WRC rounds outside Europe. I am glad to see the results of our expansion strategy, with emblematic events such as Kenya and Japan coming back to the WRC calendar next year. New Zealand replaces Australia while long-standing, iconic European events provide a great balance and preserve the DNA of the sport.”
Following the integration of Chile last year, the 2020 calendar also expands WRC’s presence on both the Asian and African continents. The Safari was dropped from the WRC Calendar in October 2002 due to lack of requisite government guarantees as demanded by the global body.
The event, which first joined the WRC in 1973, the same year when Shekhar Mehta emerged the victor, has since 2003 been relegated to regional FIA African Rally Championship (ARC) status. It also featured briefly in the second tier Inter-Continental Rally Challenge.
Safari Rally is one of the three new rounds that have been included in the WRC series along with Rally New-Zealand and the season-closing Rally of Japan, all returning to the rally-sport summit.
The reinstatement follows the announcement of the 2020 WRC Calendar by the global body following an e-vote by the World Motor Sport Council this week.
Back home at Kenyatta International Convention Centre, blissful ululations rent the air after FIA President Jean Todt made a special video recorded announcement on Kenya from the FIA headquarters in Paris.
“We welcome back the Safari Rally to the global arena after a 17-year hiatus. We would like to thank President Uhuru Kenyatta and the Safari Project for their unswerving support towards the WRC candidature this year. We wish Kenya and Africa all the best and we are looking forward to a fruitful future as we seek to reduce road carnage in Africa,” said Todt, who competed in the safari in the 1970s.
President Uhuru Kenyatta also addressed the nation in a video message thanking FIA from the New York, the USA where he is on an official visit. During the KICC function, Sports Minister Amina Mohammed said the reinstatement to the WRC series is a culmination of hard work by local organisers over the years and indeed the 2012 Jubilee Manifesto which pledged to deliver the event’s global status.
“We are really excited as a country to return to the apex of the sport after so many years. We pay tribute to the WRC Safari Project CEO (Phineas) Kimathi and President Uhuru Kenyatta who have worked tirelessly to ensure we claim our rightful status. Going forward, we are going to work tirelessly to maintain the same spirit as we race with the rest of the world in the rallying arena,” Amina said.
FULL CALENDAR
- January 26: Rally Monte-Carl
- February 16: Rally Sweden
- March 15: Rally Mexico
- April 19: Rally Chile
- May 3: Rally Argentina
- May 24: Rally Portugal
- June 7: Rally Italy
- July 19: Rally Kenya
- August 9: Rally Finland
- September 6: Rally New Zealand
- September 27: Rally Turkey
- October 18: Rally Germany
- November 1: Rally Great Britain
- November 22: Rally Japan
