The Eldoret round of the Kenya National Rally Championship (KNRC) on August 5 has to be good to improve on the gains of the WRC Safari Rally 2023 and resources invested by the government in motorsport so far this year.
The Eldoret round comes five weeks after the successful 2023 Safari Rally at which President William Ruto opened the 70th anniversary celebrations aboard a Ford Puma Rally1 car of Pierre-Louis Loubet — unprecedented in the 50-year World Rally Championship history by a sitting President — and closed the four-day carnival of speed accompanied by his deputy Rigathi Gachagua at Hells Gate National Park where tens of thousands of Kenyans witnessed Sebatien Ogier of France lead another 1-2-3-4 Toyota clean sweep.
Preliminary media returns indicate a wider reach and following of the Safari Rally than any other WRC event in the last calendar year, reaffirming the global appeal of the Safari which should spread down the pyramid in the KNRC events. Eldoret has been missing from the national calendar for some time now because of organisational challenges.
So its return must be grand, well-organised, attended and promoted, especially for the WRC Safari Rally Local Organising Committee (LOC) members Jagjeet Patter and Denis Mondet who hail from the area.
Most competitive
They will be looked upon to redeem the image and reputation of the Eldoret Rally from invaluable experience they gained from the Sporting arm of the WRC Safari Rally and share it with the organisers of this rally which was once rated as the most competitive in the national calendar.
The Eldoret Rally happens to provide a buffet of everything good and bitter in rallying with unrivalled landscape and roads.
The Kerio Valley and Cherangani Hills sections are legendary and many drivers in the old Safari Rally either consolidated their lead or met their waterloo in these sections which gave way to the rugged roads and valleys of Baringo before action flattened towards Nakuru.
It has always been debated that Eldoret roads would provide the perfect recipe for the ideal WRC Safari Rally where infrastructure, especially accommodation is up to standards available in Nairobi, Naivasha and Coastal areas.
None-the-less, there is no better location to relaunch the KNRC through commercial sponsorship and government support promised by Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba, now for the upteenth time, than Eldoret which will also hosted the East African Mini Classic Safari Rally this year.
It is not only the two above gentlemen who will be under public radar but also the Kenya Motorsports Federation (KMSF) and the county governments of Uasin Gishu and Elgeyo Marakwet. Drivers too.
This is because for the first time, interest among locals across the demographic divide hit an all-time high in this region following the personal involvement of the President — who happens to hail from Eldoret — in this year’s Safari Rally.
In essence, Eldoret and by extension Uasin Gishu and Elgeyo Marakwet counties, which also host the KNRC round, have every reason to claim ownership of rally sport.
The Uasin Gishu County Government, under the leadership of Jackson Mandago, was known to embrace sporting activities like the 2016 Olympic trials and National Cross Country Championships and invitational meetings.
The current Governor Jonathan Kimeli Bii and deputy Wesley Rotich are equally up to task as they showed when they welcomed the world to the World Athletics Sirikwa Classic Cross Country meet last February.
Ready to support KNRC
Lending a hand with several incentives for the drivers will go a long way of reviving the national championship appeal which has been facing a lean past following the withdrawal of the KCB Bank as title sponsor last year.
The local drivers, who could only compete in the national championship category of the Safari due to lack of proper machines eligible to score points in the main event, have indicated that they are ready to support the KNRC in appreciation of recognition they have been accorded this year during the KMSF Awards ceremony, Legends Gala and post event dinner. Now also they want tangible incentives.
