•Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba revealed that the rally school is one of the ministry’s legacy projects that will be used as a yardstick to ascertain the next generation of Kenyan rally drivers.
•Shakedown is a pre-race activity that helps teams dust off the cobwebs as well as warm their engines well in time for action proper.
Image: CHARLENE MALWA
Top World Rally Championship (WRC) drivers will grace the official launch of the Kenya Rally School which will coincide with Loldia Shakedown in Naivasha on March 27.
The launch of the Rally School will be open to the public and will take place immediately after the 5km Ndulele Shakedown Stage.
Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba revealed that the rally school is one of the ministry’s legacy projects that will be used as a yardstick to ascertain the next generation of Kenyan rally drivers.
Speaking at Talanta Hela during a ceremony to unveil the new Safari Rally Project, CEO Charles Gacheru and his team, the CS also revealed that he is in talks with WRC Promoter to unveil the school as soon as the dust settles on shakedown.
Shakedown is a pre-race activity that helps teams dust off the cobwebs as well as warm their engines well in time for action proper.
Ababu said: “We now start a deliberate countdown of 27 days through to Shakedown at Ndulele, where fans will have an opportunity to view the first look of the WRC Rally 1 Hybrid machine in action. We are now deploying our experts to deliver a world-class rally. Focus is now on the event and it’s all hands on the deck.”
The CS continued: “The schedule to unveil the rally school is tailor-made to coincide with the official launch of the Loldia Shakedown, one of the key legacy projects of the government. His Excellency President William Samoei Ruto announced on June 9 during the launch of Talanta Hela that the Rally School will be introduced to help discover young budding talents.”
The CS called on the new team led by Gacheru to work together as a unit and emulate the spirit of transparency and accountability.
Gacheru, who was gazetted earlier in the month as the new CEO of the Safari Rally Project replaces retired rally driver, Phineas Kimathi.
Ababu congratulated Gacheru on his new role adding that he brings with him a wealth of experience in sports management. “We are now handing the CEO a robust mandate and there will be no time for side shows as we look forward to a successful event over the Easter holiday,” Ababu said.
“As Safari returns to its roots in Easter, we must also go back to the old days when Kenyan legends Patrick Njiru, Shekhar Mehta and Joginder Singh competed in the first tier WRC category. The only way to achieve this is by grooming talents in our rally academy.” Ababu added.
Ababu noted that the future of any sport, be it football or athletics, is in the youth. He said: “I’m obsessed by this project as it will be the only way to deliver a good transition of rally drivers. I talked to Kalle Rovanpera sometime last year, and he told me that his rallying started at the age of five.”
Vivo Energy will be the official lubricant and fuel partner of the Kenya Rally School.
Principal Secretary Peter Tum said the new team will be leaner but geared towards re-energizing the process of running a successful World Rally Championship event in Naivasha. “We will have a very lean secretariat which will give a worked-out administration plan,” PS Tum said.
The event will be flagged off on March 28 and will be followed by the Kasarani SSS (Super Special Stage), where Nairobi fans will have a chance to view the cars in top action.