2023 WRC Safari Rally Kenya

Challenge

• Mechanical sympathy. Some sections are so rocky they must be tackled at little more than walking pace. Drivers must resist the temptation to treat the Safari like a normal gravel event.
• Heavy rain brings an additional challenge to an already gruelling rally. Few will have come across the deep water and unbelievably slippery mud that can replace dusty roads in a matter of minutes.
• Expect the unexpected. In Kenya, anything can happen!

Car spec

• Gravel suspension.
• The ride height will be lifted above the norm for a traditional gravel event to allow for the rocky roads.
• Pirelli’s hard and soft compound Scorpion tyres available.

Event History

• The Safari Rally was first held in 1953, as the East African Coronation Safari in Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika as a celebration of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
• In 1960 it was renamed the East African Safari Rally and kept that name until 1974, when it became the Kenya Safari Rally.
• Held on roads still open to the public, it became notorious as the toughest round of the WRC. Arduous conditions and constantly changing weather and more than 5000 competitive kilometres made simply finishing an achievement.
• The event adopted a special stage format in 1996 and from then until 2002, it featured over 1000km of timed tests. The rally left the WRC in 2002 and returned in 2021.
• Kenya’s Shekhar Mehta tops the Safari’s WRC roll of honour with five wins.