The much-anticipated Safari Rally Kenya is set to resume this year on Easter holidays after the World Rally Championship confirmed that the Kenyan series will start from March 28 and end on March 31, 2024, in Nairobi and Naivasha.
According to the calendar released by the Federation Internationale de I’ Automobile (FIA) World Motorsports Council, the 13 rounds championship will feature Poland and Latvia.
The Kenyan series has been scheduled for March 28 to March 31, 2024, according to the FIA statement.
Already, preparations for the 2024 World Rally Championship Safari Rally Kenya have hit top gear with the inauguration of the Easter event’s senior management team. The team is led by Kenyan rally driver Jim Kahumbura who serves as Event Director.
The team was inaugurated last month by Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba with organisers said to be targeting to surpass global broadcast viewership numbers of about 100 million.
Given that the sporting event will take place over the Easter holidays, organisers expect the biggest fan turnout since the rally’s return to the global circuit three years ago.
In 2022, the WRC Safari Rally recorded a global viewership of about 80 million with media reports from last year’s competition still awaited.
Namwamba, while inaugurating the team, said that this year’s event is a significant one, with the Safari Rally for the first time in many months returning to the traditional Easter date, having been staged in June in the latest editions.
The change of date this year is expected to take the Kenyan round a notch higher and attract larger crowds owing to the new dates.
This year’s Safari Rally could also see a change venue for the ceremonial finish podium, awards ceremony and post-event press conference from the Service Park at the Wildlife Research and Training Institute (WRTI) to the end of the Power Stage at the Hells Gate National Park.
The Safari is the third round of the 2024 World Rally Championships after this month’s Rallye Monte (January 25-28) and Rally Sweden (15-18 February) and will start at the iconic Kenyatta International Convention Centre in Nairobi on March 28.
