NAIROBI, Kenya, May 28- WRC defending champion and current leader Sebastien Ogier headlines a star-studded list of top drivers to battle for supremacy in the WRC Safari Rally slated to run from June 24-27 in Naivasha.
Ogier, the Frenchman, who also won the 2019 WRC title, will represent the Toyota Gazoo Racing Team with other entries seeing Elfyn Evans, Kalle Rovanpera and Takamoto Katsuta who will be competing in the WRC RC1 category in the Toyota Yaris.
Hyundai will be represented by Thierry Neuville, Ott Tanak and Dani Sordo while M-sport Ford have rolled up their sleeves and are not taking chances, bringing in Gus Greensmith, Adrien Fourmaux, Teemu Sunninien, Lorenzo Bertelli and Martin Prokop.
“We want to thank Toyota Gazoo Racing for making sure we have the opportunity to enjoy this kind of machine, we have Hyundai who have entered four cars, M-Sport have quite a number of cars in WRC category and also in the in the rally three category, oldest entrant driver is 91 year old and youngest is 20 year old so we will see who has a greater advantage the experienced one or the young one,” Kimathi Said while announcing the entry list in Naivasha.
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WRC CEO Phineas Kimathi releasing the entry list on Friday in Naivasha. Photo/COURTESY
Meanwhile, three Kenyan drivers will get to rally in Fully kitted Ford Fiestas RC-3 as part of the FIA Rally Star Program.
The FIA Rally Star program is a global talent detection programme organized by the FIA and its Clubs.
The official FIA Website, states that “The FIA Rally Star Program is Supported by the FIA Innovation Fund and has a very simple remit: to find the next FIA World Rally Champion.”
The FIA Rally Star program currently works with 146 national sporting authorities (ASNs) around the world. The website goes on to say that the FIA Rally Star will make the sport more globally accessible than ever before.
The promising Kenyan drivers who have been selected for this year’s WRC Safari Rally are 22-year-old England Based Jeremy Wahome, 26-year-old Mc Rae Kimathi, 22 Hamza Anwar.
They will be driving brand New M-Sport Ford Fiestas in the RC3 World category. The brand-new vehicles will come complete with spares and back up mechanical sport form M-Sport Ford.
M-Sport Poland have 91-year-old Sobieslaw Zasada join their list of RC3 drivers.
Sobieslaw Zasada is a former Polish Rally Driver who won the European Rally Championship in 1966, 1967 and 1971. He was nominated the Polish Sportsman of the year in 1967.
Others in the list are decorated drivers including Polish driver; Daniel Chwist, Italian Giocarlo Davite and many others.
The regional list has a bumper number of Ugandan drivers Ronald Sebbuguzzi, Yassir Nasser, Hassan Alwi and Walubi Kepher.
Making a return to active rallying after a two-year hiatus is Osman Abdullahi who will be navigated by Evans Mwenda in a Subaru imprezza N10.
The WRC Safari Rally has attracted a number of new entries with young drivers like Andrew Muiruri who will be making a switch for the ‘Time Trial Races” better known as TT. He acquired Mc Rae Kimathi’s former vehicles and is prepping it for the WC Safari Rally.
Autocross Champion Maxine Wahome (No affiliation to Jeremy Wahome) will be upgrading from her regular Motor cross/Autocross seat and steeping in to battle it out with the big boys in the WRC Safari rally.
She will be navigated by Shantall Louis Young who has is part of the organizing committee for the East African Safari Rally Classic.
Maxine is seeded 38th on the WRC Safari Rally entry list.
