Following the culmination of shakedown in Loldia, race cars return to Nairobi for Thursday’s Ceremonial Start and Kasarani Super Special Stage which will count as the first speed test of the 19-stage WRC Safari Rally showpiece.
Deputy Clerk of the Course George Mwangi said the Super Special Stage is the designated viewing area for Nairobi fans who will not be able to travel to Naivasha for the weekend’s 1192.47km event.
But prior to action proper, spectators will savoUr some hair-raising thrills by four-time world champion Juha Kankkunen through the 4.8km twin track at Kasarani.
Kankkunen was an ardent Safari driver with a scintillating WRC factory team career between 1983 and 2002.
The Flying Finn won 23 world rallies and four drivers’ world championship titles, which were both once records in the series at the time.
Both Sébastien Loeb and Sébastien Ogier have since collected more world titles, but no driver was able to repeat Kankkunen’s feat of becoming a world champion with three different manufacturers until Ogier in 2020.
Kankkunen will be performing some demonstrations on the track with a Toyota pickup as spectators await the rally machines to return from Uhuru Park, where the ceremonial flag-off will take place at 12:46 pm.
Mwangi expounded: “Traditionally, recce is done on personal cars, but on the opening stage at Kasarani, teams will have their crews recce with the rally cars from 8:30 am onwards.”
“They will then head to Uhuru Park at 12:46 pm for the ceremonial start, which will once again offer fans an opportunity to watch the elegant Priority 1 marques here in the country for the seventh leg of the global series.”
The Super Special at Kasarani will go live on WRC TV from 2:05 pm. Drivers recced the Naivasha side of the route itinerary on Monday and Tuesday.
Kalle Rovanperä and Ogier — winners of the previous two editions — will both field Toyota GR Yaris cars along with Elfyn Evans and Japanese star Takamoto Katsuta, a two-time podium finisher in Kenya.
During a pre-event activity, Rovanperä lined up a Toyota GR Yaris against Africa’s fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala, who savours a personal-best time of 9.77 in the 100m, an African record.
The stunt is part of Toyota Gazoo Racing’s promotional activities. Hyundai Motorsport has entered a trio of i20 Ns for Esapekka Lappi, Thierry Neuville and Dani Sordo, while Ott Tänak, Pierre-Louis Loubet and privateer Jourdan Serderidis will pilot M-Sport Ford Pumas.
Kajetan Kajetanowicz tops the WRC2 entry in a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, while other entrants in the premier support category include Grégoire Munster (Ford Fiesta Rally2) and KCB-sponsored Karan Patel (Ford Fiesta R5).
Program -Friday, June 23 (1st Car)
08:00/13:09: Loldia 1 and 2 (19.7km)
09:18/14:27: Geothermal 1 and 2 (13.12Km)
10:11/15:20: Kedong 1 and 2
