After eighteen long years of absence, the Safari Rally returns home. Kenya will host one of the international stages of the World Rally Championship next June.
The good news was greeted with joy by President Uhuru Kenyatta who had long announced his commitment to bring back the cars of the most famous off-piste circuit in the country of safaris par excellence.
"Immediately after taking office in 2013, I made a promise to the people of Kenya to return the Safari Rally to the family of the World Rally Championship of the International Automobile Federation - said Kenyatta - This process took seven years. It is a pleasure today to announce not only to Kenyans but to all Africans that this process has been concluded and that the Safari Rally has been included in the calendar of the World Rally Championship 2020, marking the return of the World Rally Championship in our continent, after 18 years of waiting. The Head of State also thanked the President of the International Automobile Federation, Jean Todt, the World Rally Championship Promoter Oliver Ciesla, the President of the Kenya Motorsports Federation, Kimathi and the Directors and technical teams, for working with the Ministry of Sport to realize the event that is part of the heritage of Kenya.
The Kenya Safari Rally was inaugurated in 1953 to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Originally called the East African Safari Rally, it ran through the three countries of British East Africa, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. In 2020, the competition in Kenya will start on July 19, just after the Italian rally. The other two new entries next year will be New Zealand and Japan.