The long-awaited WRC Safari rally was finally here; all the preparations leading up to this memorable event finished, and all eyes on Kenya for this historic rally. As the international drivers and their crews started arriving in Nairobi over the weekend and some the Monday after, the local Kenyan drivers, the ones from other African countries like Uganda, Zimbabwe, were also arriving and prepping to compete on this world stage. Rwanda’s Giancarlo Davite withdrew from competing in the event coz one of his crew members tested positive for Covid-19 right before the event.
British driver Colin McRae was the last winner of the WRC Safari rally back in 2002, and although there were some adjustments to the rally coming back after 19years, most of it was the same. Described as one of the hardest, toughest and most challenging rallies because of the very challenging dirt roads, long stages, and unpredictably changing weather, all drivers seemed ready for the challenge. Making history even before the rally started, at 91years old, Polish driver Sobieslaw Zasada competed under M-Sport, he was the oldest competitor to start a WRC round in championship history. He had last competed in 1997 in the Safari rally where he finished 12th co-driven by his wife Ewa in their Mitsubishi Lancer.
After the reconnaissance stage on Monday, drivers headed into scrutineering to get ready for the shakedown stage that was on schedule to take place in Loldia. Due to the very strict WRC guidelines, fifteen competitors were removed from the WRC competitive categories because they didn’t comply with pre-event scrutineering and instead were reclassified to compete in the national event (KNRC). Uganda’s Yasin Nasser co-driven by Ali Katumba in their Subaru Imprezzamet the tough requirements and were cleared to compete in the WRC3 category, a very proud moment for all Ugandans. Reasons like a change of crew, car change, co-driver change, and clerical error led to fellow Ugandans Duncan Mubiru, Ronald Ssebuguzi, Hassan Alwi, and Kepher Walubi being moved to the national event.
Ian Duncan was the route opener for the shakedown stage after MINTI motorsport sponsorship at the last hour. The drivers’ most common comment during the shakedown was the difficult terrain, rough roads, and this being completely different from any other rally the international drivers have participated in.
Sebastien Ogier won his first shakedown of the season in the Safari rally beating out his competitors at 3m42.6seconds; Elfyn Evans, Thierry Neuville, Dani Sordo, and Takamoto Katsuta rounding up the top five in that order. Kenya’s Eric Bengi had a terrific shakedown time, setting host Kenya in a good start light
The power stage was red-flagged following Oliver Solberg hitting a rock in a narrow section; his father, Norwegian professional rally and rallycross driver and WRC champion, Petter Solberg competed in the Safari rally back in his day alongside Harri Rovanpera; Kalle Rovanpera’s dad who finished second twice, who also competed in this rally, both Oliver and Kalle walking in the footsteps of their great fathers. As Wednesday came to a close, drivers were looking forward to the super special stage in Kassarani, Nairobi on Thursday as they waited for the main event to start on Friday. The ceremonial start and flagging off was done by Kenyan president HE Uhuru Kenyatta and cabinet secretary for sports, culture, and heritage Amina Mohamed, who both were in good spirits. The weather was warm and humid on dry and dusty roads.
Carl “Flash” Tundo (who shares Safari rally record with Shekhar Mehta-five wins for both) has competed in the WRC Safari rally, gave a good performance in Kassarani section one in the WRC3 category alongside fellow Kenyan greats Onkar Rai, Hamza Anwar, and McRae Kimathi. Local Kenyan drivers like these have experience in some of the stages and they are hoping to dominate their WRC3 category. Ogier led the SS stage, in the second position was Rovanpera and Evans in third. President Uhuru asked for the cars to race in two’s and it made for a very entertaining show in Kassarani. By the end of Friday, everyone had gotten a clear test that it was the toughest rally they had been a part of; some international drivers were retired due to the difficult roads like Elfyn Evans, Oliver Solberg, and Dani Sordo. Kenya’s Tejveer Rai crashed his car and also retired out of the rally entirely. Almost all drivers had some incidents on Friday and as they headed into Saturday, they were more conscious.
As Saturday unfolded, Thierry Neuville had the lead and Onkar Rai on the African side. Saturday’s stages were the most difficult to navigate, the Sleeping Warrior and Soysambu stages were tricky. Yasin Nasser also retired after they had to fix the car power, he said it was an honour for him to have competed and as a team, the experience put them on another level. On the last day of the competition, the lead slipped out of Neuville’s hands after damaging his suspension in Loldia super stage and as the rally ended, Toyota Gazoo Racing emerged as the winners. Sebastien Ogier won his first WRC Safari rally adding to his achievements, teammate Japan’s Takamoto Katsuta came in second, an incredible achievement for him, and Ott Tanak in third place. Kenyan drivers shined bright as Onkar Rai came out as the lead in the WRC3 category, winning two of the three stages, dedicated his victory to his brother Tejveer Rai, he finished 7thoverall. Behind him was Karan Patel in 08th place and Carl Tundo in 09th. That was a major win for Kenyans coz closing out the top 10 was Elfyn Evans. Jasmeet Chana, Eric Bengi, and Jeremy Wahome also had good performances throughout. Apart from Hassan Alwi, the remaining three Ugandans completed the rally.
Congratulations to Duncan Mubiru who had a fantastic run along with his co-driver Omar Mayanja finishing first in their category. Ronald Ssebuguzi and his co-driver Anthony Mugambwa came in second and Kepher Walubi in fourth. All appreciative of the experience and proud to have represented their country to the end.
As the enchanting wildlife that was praised especially the giraffes and zebras, Kenya won as a country and this is what they hoped for. Despite it being very challenging and gruelling on the cars, it was also really entertaining and HE Uhuru announced that the WRC Safari rally will be hosted in Kenya consecutively till 2026.
