The 2021 Safari Rally which ended on Sunday, according to the Sports ministry, attracted a record number of global viewers, drawing on its reputation and its history, starting as a Coronation Rally in 1953.
Then in its heyday, from the 1970s to 1990s, the Safari Rally featured top teams driving 5,000 kilometers across Kenya over five days and some nights for the prestige of winning the toughest rally in the world.
The first leg would usually be from Nairobi to Mombasa and back, not on the tarmac.
Leg two would be to Naivasha, site of this year's rally, then round Mt Kenya and back to Nairobi, while the third leg would cross the Rift Valley and Western areas and back to finish in Nairobi.
WRC Safari Rally raises motorsport excitement in Naivasha town
Everywhere, fans would line the roads to watch the cars as others listened to radios for updates on who had crashed out, experienced mechanical problems or retired during the rainy nights. It was always a mystery which car would make it back to Nairobi and climb onto the ramp at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (now the Kenyatta International Convention Centre).
By the time the rally was removed from the World Rally Championship (WRC) calendar in 2003, it had been reduced to a 1,000 km race. And this year's rally that was held around Naivasha in Nakuru County covered 320 kilometers, on private roads and with controlled crowds.
The best way to watch the rally was by a subscription to WRC+ for their app or television service. It cost about Sh1,000 and had continuous live footage using cameras on helicopters, and inside the cars, focusing on the driving crews and the roads ahead as they navigated rough routes, rivers, sand beds and sharp corners.
The footage focused on the top dozen drivers' cars. There were no Kenyan drivers in the top 10 until the final stages but three finished in the top 10.
Kenya to host WRC Safari Rally until 2026
The television commentators highlighted the rough dusty roads, volcanic hills and the Savannah, with sights of giraffes, zebras and other wildlife that all made the Safari world-famous to the global viewers.
The footage was beamed by broadcasters to 150 countries and is expected to exceed the 110 million viewers of the Monte Carlo rally in January. Many people tuned in to watch a rally for the first time as the lady changed hands in some dramatic ways.
And despite the global Covid-19 lockdowns that kept away some foreign fans, all hotel rooms in Naivasha, and helicopters, had been booked by the safari.
The crowds on the highway around Nairobi and Naivasha were an avoidable hitch that can be fixed in the future.
On Saturday, the Tour de France cycling race was briefly disrupted when a fan held a sign to be seen on television and caused an accident, with several riders knocked down. That did not happen in Kenya.
The race winner was a Toyota Yaris, a super power version of the Toyota Vitz, driven by World Champion Sébastien Ogier, that reached top speeds of 190 km/h at one stage. Largely absent was the Subaru Impreza, which is probably the car most young Kenyans associate with the Safari Rally.
Ott Tanak, who finished third in a Hyundai, wants the Safari to be tougher in future and less like a European stage. Maybe the Safari's FIA safety delegate Michele Mouton, who finished third in her Safari debut in 1983, driving the legendary Audi Quattro, could arrange that for next year.
