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Maintain Safari Rally

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By  Editorial

What you need to know:

  • The decision to run the WRC Safari Rally in Naivasha is geared towards cutting costs.
  • We hope the changes do not affect the status and allure that Nairobi offered Safari Rally.

The iconic World Rally Championship (WRC) Safari Rally will for the first time since its inception seven decades ago shift the ceremonial start and shakedown from Nairobi to Naivasha.

Organisers announced last week they have dropped Nairobi that has been the main ceremonial start location since 1953 to comply with new Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) regulations requiring rallies to run from Thursday to Sunday exclusively in one region, with fans able to watch the shakedown.

The event, scheduled for March 12-15, will focus on Naivasha’s iconic stages like Camp Moran and Mzabibu, allowing for more concentrated fan engagement and adherence to WRC rules. The decision to run the rally in Naivasha is geared towards cutting costs, streamlining logistics so as to give crews ample working hour requirements.

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Sports tourism and economic driver

We hope the changes do not affect the status and allure that Nairobi offered Safari Rally for the past 72 years, with the event having regained its WRC status in 2021 after 19 years.

Safari Rally has been a key sports tourism and economic driver, attracting massive audiences, with 400,000 fans having attended the event in person last year, the biggest turnout since its return to WRC.

The return to WRC status rejuvenated national interest in rallying, paving the way for discovering and nurturing new motorsport talent across the country. It also registered millions of global viewers, with projections over 100 million having watched the rally in at least 150 countries through TV and digital platforms, making it the most watched event on the WRC calendar.

The changes call for astute planning so as to uphold Safari Rally status. We hope the traffic that comes to a gridlock on the Nairobi-Nakuru highway the entire period of the championship won’t be witnessed. 

In the headlines