Considered as the world toughest rally, Kenya premier motorsport competition, Safari Rally, is set for confirmation of its comeback to the World Rally Championship (WRC) in 2020 later next week.
The East African country last hosted the event in July 2002 before FIA announced that the Safari would not feature in the global circuit because the Kenyan government had not given necessary guarantees for the event.
Since then, the Safari, which is famed for its tough driving conditions, has seen the 14-leg WRC lacking a leg in Africa, but now speculation is rife for its reinstatement.
A Finish Newspaper reported yesterday that the FIA World Motor Sport Council vote had already been completed and that the major announcement is set to be made before Friday.
Sources close to the governing body, however, maintain that the vote has not been concluded though but the confirmation of the Safari return to the world stage will be made next week.
“It’s still too early to speculate as the vote is still ongoing but as far as am concerned, Safari’s fate will be known next week,” the source told Ducor Sports.
In July this year, Safari was run as a FIA candidate Round event which was won by local ace, Baldev Singh Chager and reportedly run without any safety issues.
The candidate event, which was fully supported by the Kenyan government, was observed by Hyundai, M-Sport and Toyota who sent representatives in the country for the three-day event.
The 255km long Safari was divided into eight stages and saw drivers from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Burundi and Rwanda competing.
Should the confirmation be announced as expected later next week, it will be the conclusion of a three-year effort that kicked off in 2015.
At that time, FIA president, James Todt, visited Kenya and assessed the possibility of including the country as a WRC round.
