•The 2024 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) schedule sees the fabled Safari revert to its traditional Easter Holiday date on the weekend of March 28-31.
•Easter Holiday weekends were synonymous with torrential rains back in the day and handed sterner motoring tests to foreign and local crews alike.
Image: HANDOUT
The changes in dates for the World Rally Championships (WRC) Safari Rally comes with new challenges, according to the organisers.
This is, by and large, a paradigm shift from the last three editions in 2021, 2022 and 2023, which ran in late June.
The 2024 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) schedule sees the fabled Safari revert to its traditional Easter Holiday date on the weekend of March 28-31.
Easter Holiday weekends were synonymous with torrential rains back in the day and handed sterner motoring tests to foreign and local crews alike.
This year, the Safari will count towards the third round of the global FIA Series after the season-opening Rallye Monte Carlo (January 25-27) and the all-snow Rally Sweden fixture (February 15-18).
Safari of the Yore was renowned for its rugged terrain and extreme driving conditions, which called for exceptional skills and endurance from the crews.
This time around, the anticipated mud and treacherous river-crossings could pose a fresh challenge to the visiting World Rally teams including M-Sport Ford, Toyota Gazoo Racing and Hyundai Motorsport.
What has grabbed global attention in the modern-day rally is the thick volcanic dust also known as 'fesh fesh’ in the past three editions.
Should the heavens open, the conditions could still pose a challenge for the drivers amid a slippery and muddy drive.
WRC Safari Rally CEO Phineas Kimathi urged Kenyans to turn up en masse and be a part of the Easter facet of motor rallying in Kenya.
“I welcome all Kenyans and sponsors to continue supporting Safari and motorsport in general and wish them all a Happy New Year, 2024. I would like to thank the people of Kenya for supporting the Safari which is part of the Kenyan heritage and a top international sporting fixture in Africa,” Kimathi remarked.
Should heavens open over Easter—which is highly likely—then the soft ‘fesh fesh’ dust will degenerate into muddy quagmires, where crews will be compelled to strategize more on traction control.
From scorching heat to torrential downpours, participants in the 2024 WRC Safari will be prepared to adapt their driving style and vehicle setup to the ever-changing conditions of Kenyan terrain.
Victor Okundi has navigated youngster Jeremiah Wahome in the past three WRC events since the return to global status in a Rally3 Ford Fiesta. He said: “As a competitor, I have not had an opportunity to experience an Easter Safari. As a little boy during my high school days, I never got a chance.”
“It will be a whole new experience for both the foreign and local drivers given the amount of excitement,” expounded Okundi.
World Rally Championships (WRC) promoter, Simon Larking couldn’t conceal his excitement regarding the return of the Kenyan round to its traditional dates.
Larking was quoted as saying it was the Kenyan government's request to return the event to its traditional dates to elevate its spectator fervor.
“President William Ruto and the Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba requested WRC during last year’s event in Naivasha to return the Safari Rally to its traditional dates to be able to attract bigger crowds. And as much as we can’t return the rally to public roads, we love big turnouts of spectators,” he noted.
Namwamba expounded on the significance of an Easter Safari. “We are all delighted that the WRC is going back to its traditional Easter timing. That’s an incredible thing for this country,” he said during the last edition.
“I am happy that we had successful discussions with the WRC Promoter and other stakeholders in that space and it will be such an experience to revert the Safari to where it was back in the day.”
He added: “The Safari this year will attract bigger numbers of spectators given the fact children will be off school. We will witness a lot of public enthusiasm. Fusing the Easter and the Safari spirit is incredible.”
The 2024 FIA World Rally Schedule
Round 1: Monaco Rallye - France (January 25-28)
Round 2: Rally Sweden (February 15 -18)
Round 3: Safari Rally Kenya (March-31-28)
Round 4: Croatia Rally (April 18 -21)
Round 5: Rally de Portugal (May 9 -12)
Round 6: Italy Rally (May 3- June 3)
Round 7: Rally Poland (June 27-30)
Round 8: Rally Latvia (July 18-21)
Round 9: Rally Finland (August 1-4)
Round 10: Acropolis Rally, Greece (Sep 5-8)
Round 11: Rally Chile (September 26 -29)
Round 12: Central Europe Rally Bavaria, Germany (Oct 31- Nov 3)
Round 13: Rally Japan (Nov 21 -24)