This archive report was first published on 15 May 2020.
On May 15, 2020, Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed announced that the highly anticipated 2020 Safari Rally World Rally Championship event, scheduled for July 16-19, would now take place in 2021 due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The Safari Rally was set to return to the World Rally Championship calendar after a series of meetings between the FIA, Kenyan government, and the Kenya Motorsports Federation. The event's route had already been mapped out, and excitement was building among fans and stakeholders.
According to a statement from the Cabinet Secretary, the postponement was made possible with the support of President Uhuru Kenyatta, FIA President Jean Todt, and WRC promoter Oliver Cielsa. The statement read: 'We are grateful to the patron, HE President Uhuru Kenyatta for his unwavering support and counsel as we deliberated on the next best steps. We also owe great gratitude to the president of the FIA Mr. Jean Todt and the WRC promoter led by Oliver Cielsa for their unyielding support since we commenced engagements to return the Safari Rally to the WRC circuit.'
The coronavirus pandemic has forced several World Rally Championship events to be postponed, including the Argentina, Portugal, and Italy legs. The new season was expected to restart in Kenya in July, but the hopes have now been dashed.
According to the revised calendar, the next rally would have been in Finland in August, followed by New Zealand and Turkey in September, Germany in October, and Wales and Japan in November.
Despite the postponement, the Safari Rally Project CEO, Phineas Kimathi, remains optimistic. He stated: 'The organizing team continues to work hard to ensure that we deliver a world-class event. We are at an advanced stage to complete the Service Park located in Nakuru County and are in line with the set completion timelines.'
Kimathi added: 'We encourage the drivers and all stakeholders to keep in touch with the secretariat as we ready ourselves for the new dates.'
