All you need to know about the world safari rally
Sharon Tonui
The WRC safari rally started on 21 June 2021 with the rally teams conducting a recce on the Naivasha routes. Where they got to know the routes, they were going to use, had all the drivers driving around and their navigators taking notes on everything on the route to get familiar with it.
On Wednesday the rally drivers conducted a shakedown with the priority one drivers at the Loldai stages. This saw Sebastian Ogier as the winner with Katsuta Takamoto coming in second and Greensmith Gus coming in third, and Neuville Thiery fourth. The Loldai stage proved challenging, with one stage being red flagged after Oliver Solberg’s car hitting a rock forcing the rally to be interrupted.
The scrutineering also took place on Wednesday, where the cars were all checked to make sure they adhered to the FIA rules and regulations. Some local drivers failed the tests and will therefore not be able to participate in the WRC rally, but they will compete with the local drivers in the local competition. With Teams like the Betika sponsored team of Maxine Wahome and Shantal Young, not qualifying. Other drivers that didn’t qualify are, Issa Anwari, John Ng’ang’a, Duncan Muiruri, Stephen Mwangi, Hassan Alwi, Uganda’s walubi kephir, Hussain Malik, Adil Mughal, Rehan Shah among others.
This left only 38 cars qualifying for the WRC rally that will officially start on Friday 25th at the Soysambu conservancy.
Spectators are expected to follow the covid 19 regulations and are expected to keep their masks on during the rally and not move in groups of more than 20 people. Spectators are expected to watch the rally in the designated spectator points opened to the public, these points are at Hell’s gate, soysambu conservancy, and the Sleeping warrior stage.
Spectators and rally fanatics were also advised not to race their cars like the drivers. This is because the race was only meant for professional drivers in their rally cars which were designed for the competition. The safety of both the drivers and the spectators is important since motorsport can cause fatal injuries if caution is not taken from both ends.
The Cabinet Secretary interior security Dr.Fred Matiang’i released an official statement on the temporary closure of certain roads during the rally. This is to make the transition of rally cars from one stage to another easy. The roads expected to be closed are the Eldoret –Nakuru highway which will be closed off for cars weighing more than 3 tonnes, from 00.00hrs to 1900hrs on Thursday the 24th. The Kericho –Nakuru highway is expected to be closed in a similar timeline, for vehicles and trucks weighing more than 3 tonnes on Friday the 25th. the Mombasa-Nairobi-Mai Mahiu and Narok- Mai Mahiu road will be closed off on Sunday 27th from 00.00hrs till 1900hrs.
The rally was officially flagged off by the Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta at the Kenyatta international conference center, where the Thika superhighway saw an interruption in the normal flow of traffic. This allowed the rally cars to get to the center where they were flagged off in the presence of the FIA president Jean Todt and also the Kenyan Safari Rally CEO Pheneas Kimathi and the sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohammed.
The priority one drivers then got a chance to answer questions from the media and fans before they proceeded to the super stage at kasarani stadium. When asked how he expected the rally to be like, here is what Spain’s driver Dani Sordo had to say ‘ it is difficult to know how the rally will be since some of the places on the route are rocky while some are smooth, some routes have artificial blind corners with rocks placed at those corners. ‘ Dani expects the rally to be a true test to both the driver and car. ‘It has always been a dream of mine to do the safari rally, the routes will be challenging and tough, but I felt good on the recce and there is good scenery and animals. ‘Said 19-year-old Oliver Solberg, whose father was also a rally driver. Oliver currently has Kenyan champion, Ian Duncan, as his adviser for the rally. when asked whether he felt any pressure for the safari rally, Oliver Solberg said that since he is still young and expects to be in more rally races. He didn’t feel any pressure and he is in it for the experience and adventure, but he expects to drive well, and he hopes to get more chances at the WRC.
The cars then proceeded to the Kasarani Stadium to compete for a section on the inbuilt track before they headed off to the Kenya Wildlife Service’s training institute at Naivasha, then proceeded for a stage at Chui lodge before returning to the Kenya Wildlife Training Institute which serves as the current headquarters of the FIA, for a rest before the official start of the competitive rallying in the morning on Friday 25th.
The safari rally is expected to take place over the weekend. Starting at Kedong Ranch on Friday and Soysambu Conservancy on Saturday is expected to end on Sunday at Hell’s Gate National Park with spectators expected to see some action at the Fischer’s tower, marking the end of the rally and the prize-giving being held on the same day.
With the safari rally proving as the most challenging in the WRC calendar, the weekend is expected to be testing for some of the drivers who have never driven in the African terrain before, and for the crew and also for the cars. The weekend is expected to be filled with action with drivers who will be trying to maneuver the routes without recking the car and the final goal is to finish on Sunday.
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