WRC Safari Rally Kenya

Safari Rally Kenya started in May 1953 as the “East African Coronation Safari” in celebration of Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation. Alan Dix and co-driver Johnny Larsen won that first rally in a Volkswagen Beetle. DP Marwaha and Vic Preston Sr. won in 1954 and 1955 in a Volkswagen Beetle and Ford Zephyr, respectively. The 1958 event included three classes: Impala, Lion, and Leopard classes. That marked the only time multiple classes were included in the event.

The event kept the East African Coronation Safari Rally title until 1960 when it was renamed the East African Safari Rally. By this time, the rally had garnered a reputation as one of the toughest rallies in the world but with that came popularity among factory teams. In 1963 and 1968, the seven drivers and co-drivers who managed to finish those races were nicknamed the “Unsinkable Seven” for making it through notoriously difficult events covering more than 3,000 miles.

A non-Kenyan driver won the event for the first time in 1966 when Tanzanian driver Bert Shankland and co-driver Chris Rothwell won in a Peugeot 404. They’d win the event again in 1967. A non-African driver won the event for the first time in 1972 when Finnish driver Hannu Mikkola and co-driver Gunnar Palm won in a Ford Escort RS1600. The year after, it was included in the World Rally Championship as the fourth round of the inaugural season. In 1975, the event title was shortened to the Safari Rally.

Though teams and drivers from multiple continents came to Kenya for the Safari Rally, homegrown drivers dominated the first decade of WRC competition. Kenyan Shekhar Mehta and co-driver Lofty Drews won the first WRC Safari Rally in 1973. Fellow Kenyan Joginder Singh and co-driver David Doig won the event in 1974. Singh would win again in 1976 and Mehta won every race from 1979-1982. Looking ahead to the Safari Rally at Kenya, fans eagerly anticipate the thrilling competition and eagerly await the release of the Safari Rally Kenya odds.

The few exceptions to this run of dominance were Swedes Ove Andersson and Björn Waldegård winning in 1975 and 1977, respectively, and Frenchman Jean-Pierre Nicolas winning in 1978.

After winning seven of the first 10 WRC Safari Rally events, Kenyan drivers would notch just one more WRC victory: Ian Duncan in 1994. Waldegård became one of the most successful drivers in the event, winning in 1984, 1986, and 1990.

Until the 1990s, the event was on open roads. Due to the terrain and long stages, winners were often those who balanced speed with caution. Teams would use helicopters to fly ahead of their cars to warn animals or vehicles along the route of their drivers coming. Technology like tire mousse, which helps tires function after a puncture, later allowed drivers to drive thousands of miles flat out.

After a year away in 1995, the rally returned in 1996 with an official special stage format. Despite being limited to 15-20 stages, the total distance remained an outlier on the WRC schedule, routinely going well over 650 miles (1,046 kilometers).

British drivers dominated in this format, with champions Colin McRae and Richard Burns winning all but two Safari Rally events from 1996 to 2002. WRC organizers dropped the event starting in 2003 due to a lack of finance and organization.

In September 2019, WRC organizers announced the Safari Rally would return in 2020. That event was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic but returned to the calendar in 2021. In its return, organizers reduced the distance to fall more in line with other events.