Ndulele ‘Shakedown’ gets the iconic Safari Rally going

First real action of the 2024 WRC Safari Rally begins today from 8am at Ndulele Conservancy, 23km off the Moi North Lake Road from Naivasha town, at the 5.40km “Shakedown” stage where P1 and selected drivers in other classes will test their machines on Kenyan roads for the first time this year.

This will be done ahead of the official start of the Safari Rally competition at Kasarani Super Special Stage on Thursday.

Shakedowns offer opportunities for crews to test their competition cars on terrain like the rally before the event starts. Competitors must drive through the shakedown stage at least three times, with all passes being timed but no points are awarded.

Rains continue pounding Naivasha overnight and drivers reported slippery and pools of stagnant waters after two days of recce using standard 4WD vehicles, sending concern as teams reconsider their strategies.

 “It’s also great that we can fit snorkels to the cars, which will not only look quite cool but also help if there is more water on the road,” said Toyota Gazoo Racing Team principal Finnish Jari-Matti Latvala.

 “This year, it could bring a different challenge with the change of date. Now it’s the rainy season in Kenya so there’s more risk of difficult conditions. When it rains there, the stages can get extremely slippery and it can be quite a challenge for the drivers to tackle.”

Oliver Solberg of Sweden who will drive a Skoda Fabia Evo reported having a good time when others posted photos struggling through muddy sections during recce. “We are here in a Land Cruiser. Very cool and it is flat out during the Safari.”

The challenging 5.4km stage, usually tackled under dry and dusty conditions will determine how the Rally1 Hybrid cars will handle on wet and slippery conditions between Friday and Sunday in Naivasha and Gilgil stages especially in Elementaita where these powerful machines struggled last year following unexpected downpour.

 “The rain, albeit not really heavy is to carry-on falling in Kenya. I don’t think the WRC regulations allow for the chaos a wet Safari rally will throw at the crews,” posted Nicky Grist in his social media handles.

Grist is a veteran Safari co-driver with 21 WRC wins including the 2002 Safari edition where he navigated the late Colin McRae to victory in a Ford Focus WRC.

“Will they allow mud crews in locations to pull stuck cars out of mud holes, or even to allow crews to divert into the bush to divert around the muddy hazards? I wonder what the Clerk of the Course and the FIA stewards are discussing right now? This will be the most interesting Safari we will see in the modern era of the WRC,” he said.

Many rally aficionados across the globe are eagerly waiting for a wet Safari which will rekindle memories of the classical wet Safari last witnessed in the 1996 edition that was won my Tommi Makinen. Remarkably, the Finn won with a gun-to-tape sprint in a Mitsubishi Lancer.

But will drivers sprint? Many believe there is no room for such manoeuvres and tyres will play an important role.

Pirelli, the FIA World Rally Championship’s official tyre suppler, is providing its Scorpion KX tyre in soft and hard compounds to all Rally1 cars in anticipation of varying weather conditions in this year's Safari.

The soft compound is the first choice for damp conditions prevalent in Naivasha and Kedong areas to improve on grip especially if it rain.

The hard option available is for dry-weather running.

Pirelli's variables are the mitigating factor for the diverse an spectacular nature of this weekend’s race which is rated as the most exciting and unpredictable in the WRC season, and the most difficult to predict.