2025 WRC Safari Rally could be held outside Easter holidays
Kalle Rovanpera and his navigator Jonne Halttunen in a Toyota Yaris compete in the Kasarani Super special stage of the 2024 WRC Safari Rally on March 28, 2024.
What you need to know:
- The World Motor Sport Council is expected to release the expanded 2025 calendar later this month.
- There is a strong indication of the Safari retaining its status and the licence extended beyond 2026.
Dates for the 2025 WRC Safari Rally could be changed with insiders speculating that the event could be held in the third week of March but outside the Easter holidays.
The World Motor Sport Council is expected to release the expanded 2025 calendar later this month which will bring together 14 rounds instead of the traditional 13.
This is after the World Rally Championship Promoter announced the inclusion of Saudi Arabia in a 10-year deal and Paraguay. This means that at least three events will lose WRC status next year and it is unlikely that this will affect Safari.
There is a strong indication of the Safari retaining its status and the licence extended beyond 2026.
The unique Kenyan topography and weather conditions are the distinctive ingredients that make the Safari Rally stand out in the entire WRC calendar.
New route for 2025 WRC Safari Rally
The FIA and WRC Promoter are still crafting a calendar that serves all the three aspects of rallying conditions namely ice/snow, asphalt and gravel, which completes the WRC profile as the ultimate test for man and machine under varying conditions.
This makes rallying an everlasting experience for drivers and spectators onsite and watching through media channels.
Kenya, Japan, Chile, and now Saudi Arabia, Finland, Portugal, Greece, Sardinia and Paraguay are likely to form the gravel events while Monte Carlo and Sweden are winter ice/snow rounds in 2025.
The other hosts for asphalt will be known when the calendar is out.
But the Safari 2025 faces many challenges including devising a new route after Kedong, which has been hosting the second day of competition, started being sub-divided by the land’s shareholders.
Quality and numbers of local participants
The other issue which remains unclear is government funding, coming against the backdrop of the recently rejected Finance Bill 2024.
In addition, President William Ruto announced this year that the Safari’s future will be dependent on private sector funding which has been the primary sponsor of the Safari Rally Project since its inception in 2017.
A policy statement by the government and updates from organisers should be forthcoming to clear the air.
But as all these are happening, the other major concern amongst Kenyans is the quality and numbers of local participants in the WRC Safari Rally who have been reduced to almost bystanders.
Many of them have cars good enough to challenge the foreigners in the second tier class of competition known as the Rally 2 category as the premier league is a reservation of professional drivers enlisted by the three manufacturer teams -- Toyota, Hyundai and Ford.
