• Toyota, who recently ran a pre-season winter test of their Yaris Rally 1 in Finland in the presence of Kenya’s Red Bull athlete Karan Patel, remains unchanged for the 2023 Season.
• Toyota claimed the top four positions on Safari last year and will be hoping for a repeat performance on Naivasha’s world famous fesh-fesh stages.
Image: FILE
Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team speedsters led by champion Kalle Rovanpera will be the star attractions at this year’s WRC Safari Rally which marks the highlight of the 2023 Kenya Motor Sports Calendar.
The iconic Kenyan leg of the World Rally Championship will return to Naivasha for the third year running on the weekend of June 22-25.
Toyota, who recently ran a pre-season winter test of their Yaris Rally 1 in Finland in the presence of Kenya’s Red Bull athlete Karan Patel, remains unchanged for the 2023 Season.
The new development in the team this season is the promotion of Japanese driver Takamoto Katsuta to their otherwise solid main line-up which will witness the return of Elfyn Evans to a full campaign.
Katsuta , who secured his maiden WRC podium in Kenya in 2021, was taken under the wing of Toyota’s WRC Challenge Program for young drivers in 2015 and made his top-flight debut in Germany four years ago.
The 2021 Safari winner Sebastien Ogier will be part of Gazoo outfit and is likely to take up the reins for the season-opening Rallye Monte-Carlo (19 - 22 January), an event he has won eight times. He is also expected to grace the Safari in June.
Elfyn will join Kalle as part of Toyota’s Safari lineup as both will compete for the full season for the Japanese manufacturer.
Toyota claimed the top four positions on Safari last year and will be hoping for a repeat performance on Naivasha’s world famous fesh-fesh stages.
The 2023 WRC will feature a new round which takes place across three countries when Austria, Czech Republic and Germany host the Central European Rally from 26 - 29 October. The asphalt rally will be based out of the south-east German city of Passau.
On the national front, KRT club will organize its first Kenya National Rally Championship- (KNRC) even which will be the season closer t on the weekend of December 9-10, 2023.
KNRC 1 will be organised by the Rallye Sports Club (RSC) on the same weekend as Time Trial 1, a tarmac event to be run by Delta Motorsports on the weekend of February 4-5. WRC Safari Rally will also doubling up as KNRC4.
The 4X4 series will feature in the motorsport calendar for the second year running. The series , currently gaining incredible national attention, will start on March 11-12 organised by KRT also on the same weekend as the Karting 1 and 2 double-header hosted by RVMSC.
Burundi makes entry into ARC
In another development, the FIA African Rally Championship — ARC will revert to its traditional seven-leg format following the inclusion of Burundi into the 2023 schedule. Burundi International Rally will replace Rally of South Africa after a successful candidate event in 2022.
South Africa pulled out of the continental series citing financial constraints.
Equator Rally — the Kenyan round of the ARC — will be held on the weekend of March 18-19, coinciding with WRC Rally Guanajuato México 2023.
The 10-leg Kenya National Karting Championship has adopted a double-header format to feature five race weekends in 2023.
Jim Heather-Hayes Memorial Classic Rally had been introduced as a mark of respect for the rally legend, who passed on in December.
KMSF 2023 Calendar
Jan 21-22: WRC Rallye Monte-Carlo/KMSF Annual Awards
Jan 28-29: Autocross 1 - SUC
Feb 04-05: KNRC 1 – RSC/Time Trial 1 - Delta
Feb 11-12: WRC Rally Sweden
Feb 25-26: ARC 1Rallye Bandama Côte D’ivoire/Autogross 2 - RVMSC
Mar 04-05: Jim Heather-Hayes Memorial Classic Rally
Mar 11-12: Karting 1 and 2 – RVMSC/4 X 4 - 1 - KRT
Mar 18-19: WRC Guanajuato Rally Mexico/ARC2 Equator Rally Kenya KNRC 2 - KMSF
Mar 25-26: Raid 1 - RVMSC
Apr 01-02: Autocross 3 - RSC
Apr 15-16: 4 X 4 - 2 - MMSC
Apr 20-23: WRC Croatia Rally
Apr 29-30: Auto 4 - MMC
May 06-07: ARC3 Pearl Of Africa Uganda Rally-Poaur
May 13-14: WRC Vodafone Rally De Portugal/Raid 2 - VCCCK
May 20-21: KNRC 3 - RVMSC
May 27-28: Autocross 5 – KMSC/Time Trial 2 - Delta
Jun 03-04: WRC Rally Italia Sardegna/Rhino Ark Rhino Charge
Jun 10-11: Karting 3 and 4 - KMSC
Jun 22-25: WRC Safari Rally Kenya KNRC 4 - KMSF
Jul 01-02: 4 X 4 - 3 – KRT/Motorkhana 1 - Delta
Jul 08-09: Autocross 6 - WKMSC
Jul 15-16: Karting 5 and 6 - KMSC
Jul 22-23: WRC Rally Estonia/ARC,4 Tanzania Rally
Aug 05-06: WRC Secto Rally Finland/KNRC 5 Nanyuki Rally - Nrg
Aug 12-13: Auto 7 - Nrg
Aug 19-20: ARC 5 Burundi International Rally
Aug 26-27: Raid 3 – Rvmsc/Time Trial 3 - Delta
Sep 02-03: 4 X 4 - 4 - RSC
Sep 07-10: WRC Eko Acropolis Rally Greece, KNRC 6 Mombasa Rally - MMC
Sep 16-17 Sep: Auto 8 - KMSC
Sep 23-24 Sep: ARC 6 Rwanda Mountain Gorilla Rally-Rmgr/Alfa Romeo Owners Club Concours De Elegance
Sep 30 - Oct 01: WRC Rally Chile/Safari Rally Memorial Drive
Oct 07-08: KNRC 7 - KMSC
Oct 14-15: Autocross 9 - RSC
Oct 21-22: ARC 7 Zambia International Rally/Karting 7 and 8 - Rvmsc
Oct 26-29: WRC Central Europe Rally (Austria, Czech Republic and Germany)
Nov 04-05: KNRC 8 Guru Nanak Rally - SUC
Nov 11-12: Autocross 10 - Krt
Nov 18-19: WRC Forum8 Rally Japan/4 X 4 - 5 – KRT/Motorkhana 2 - Delta
Nov 25-26: Kart 9 and 10 – KMSC/Raid 4 - VCCCK
Dec 02-03: KNRC 9 - KRT
Dec 09-18-: East African Safari Classic Rally