Police on Wednesday warned motorists to expect traffic disruption on Thika Superhighway and Uhuru Highway on Thursday as the World Rally Championship (WRC) Safari Rally drivers prepare for the flag off.
Nairobi Area Traffic Enforcement to Vitalis Otieno said the two city roads will be partially closed to motorists from 6am on Thursday, June 23 to pave way for the Safari Rally flag off at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC).
The events will take place at KICC and Kasarani stadium near Ngomongo. This means sections of Thika Road will be affected as the cars move from there to the city centre then to KICC for flagging off by president Uhuru Kenyatta and later to Naivasha.
“As the official World Rally Championship (WRC) Safari Rally is a very important event not only Kenya but worldwide, I would like to urge motorists to avoid Uhuru Highway and Thika Road as the traffic will be disrupted for several hours,” he said.
According to the official WRC spectator guide, there will be a press conference at 11am on Thursday followed by the ceremonial flag off at 12.45pm.
After the flag off, Mr Omukata said that the vehicles will drive through Parliament Road, Haile Selassie Avenue, Uhuru Highway, Wangari Mathai Road and head back to Ngomongo, Kasarani via Thika Superhighway.
At Kasarani, the WRC cars driven by the best in the world, will begin their 2022 WRC Safari Rally campaign in earnest with a side-by-side race on the purpose-built Super Special Stage dubbed Super Spectator Stage (SSS) from 14.08pm.
The drivers will be allowed to do the recce in their proper rally cars, a distance of 4.84 kilometres section.
“From Ngomongo, the rally cars will then head back to Thika Superhighway and pass through Muthaiga as they head to Limuru on their way to Naivasha,” he added.
The move, was aimed at guaranteeing safe and secure operations of the WRC event.
Meanwhile, Safari Rally fans will enjoy action from the comfort of their seats via NTV when drivers line up for ceremonial start outside the iconic KICC in the heart of Nairobi on Thursday.
From KICC, drivers will head to the super special spectator stage at Kasarani where NTV will again be on standby from 2pm as drivers battle for fast times in the 4.84 kilometres section.
NTV, who signed a sponsorship deal worth Sh40 million with WRC
Safari Rally in March this year, will broadcast live action of competitive section nine (Elementaita 1) on Friday at 9am for one hour.
NTV will also air live action of SS12 Elementaita 2 on Saturday afternoon and SS 16 Hell’s Gate 1 on Sunday at 9.00am.
The TV station has also dedicated 90 minutes of live action of the last stage (SS 19 Hell’s Gate Wolf Power Stage).
The drivers are battling for honours in this sixth round of the World Rally Championship which will comprise of total distance 1,223.23 kilometres (362.62km competitive distance).
