BREAKING: Safari Rally Is Back On World Rally Championship

Kenya premier motorsport competition Safari Rally is back on the World Rally Championship (WRC) calendar.

According to WRC, the rally will be run next year as part of the 2020 FIA WRC Calendar and will be held from July 16 to 19, forming the 8^th round of the world championships.

“It’s no secret we wanted to further globalise the series by incorporating more events outside Europe and we’ve achieved that next year with this exciting new-look calendar,” said Oliver Ciesla, managing director of WRC Promoter, which owns the championship’s commercial rights.

[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] “Kenya is a huge market for the WRC and I thank everyone involved from both countries and the FIA who have been instrumental in returning the rallies to the calendar for 2020.”   [/perfectpullquote]

FIA hosted a candidate event in Kenya and the first in Africa this year after the government signed an agreement with the WRC promoter to run the event prior to voting by World Motor Sport Council.

Last time the East African country hosted the event was July 2002 before FIA announced that the Safari would not feature in the global circuit because the Kenyan government had not given necessary guarantees for the event.

The Safari was notorious for being the WRC’s toughest round as open-road gravel tracks, unpredictable weather and a route three times longer than other rallies created hazards unmatched elsewhere.

It has evolved to fit the modern-day WRC, but its character remains with challenging closed dirt roads, superb picture-postcard scenery and exotic wildlife.

Safari was first held in 1953 as a coronation rally for Queen Elizabeth and gained WRC status in 1973 the same year Shekhar Mehta won it.