Kenya’s Safari Rally is set to make a return to the World Rally Championship (WRC) calendar after 18 years of absence.
Safari Rally will now be part of the 14 events in the series. The Rally will be held from July 16 to 19.
The Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) confirmed this through an announcement posted on its website on Friday. This happens following an e-vote by the World Motor Sport Council this week.
Rally Monte-Carlo will open the season, as is tradition, while three new rounds, Rally Kenya, Rally New-Zealand, and the season-closing Rally Japan, will make their return to the world stage.
FIA Rally Director Yves Matton said that having more WRC rounds outside Europe is as a result of the Federation’s expansion strategy. Next year’s season of WRC will see Kenya, New Zealand and Japan participating. New Zealand replaces Australia in the Championship.
“Following the integration of Chile last year, the 2020 calendar also expands our presence on both the Asian and African continents,” Yves commented.
“With the strong interest of many countries to host a WRC round, we had more high-quality candidates than the number of slots available in the calendar, which demonstrates the robust health and popularity of the championship. The rotation system that we are adopting gives us the opportunity to maintain a higher number of good events in the WRC,” he added.
The Safari Rally started as the East African Safari Rally traversing the three East African countries (Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania). It then developed to become one of the toughest Rally in the World as it was regarded as a true test for man and machine.
In 1973, the Safari was admitted to the prestigious WRC held within the boundaries of Kenya. The Safari Rally continued to enjoy the WRC status until the year 2002 when the event was dropped from the WRC and relegated to the African Rally Championship.
Now that it is back to the global arena, Kenya braces for years of entertainment during ever Safari Rally event.
The 2020 calendar, comprised of 14 rounds, is confirmed as follows:
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