Entries for the 2023 WRC Safari Rally have opened and, naturally, the bulk of competitors are expected to come from Kenya and possibly Uganda.
They are the backbone of the event and must be supported financially.
Traditionally, the privateer driver was always the foundation of the Safari Rally. He operated on a shoestring budget, personal savings, reaching out to family and friends and always running at a disadvantaged position.
Fans would have already left the scene, TV cameras gone while physical and mental pressure took its toll but a finish was celebrated by all and sundry.
Never-say-die spirit
It is from this perspective that organisers introduced the prestigious “Tail end Charlie trophy” for the last crew to cross the finish line, just to celebrate resilience.
The privateers’ never-say-die spirit has always provided the human sacrifice face storyline for the Safari.
The privateers are needed this time more than ever before given the fledging fortunes of sports in Kenya brought about by the economic recession, even if the Harambee spirit will be employed.
Kenyans proved their mettle against the best in the 2021 edition with Onkar Rai, Karan Patel and Carl Tundo occupying the top 10 positions, an enviable success for drivers who are generally rally drivers on Sunday and office workers on Monday.
Rai, in a VW Polo in seventh position, was the first Kenyan privateer in 24 years to place so highly since Jonathan Toroitch’s fifth place in the 1997 Safari Rally driving his own Toyota Celica Twincam Turbo.
Ian Duncan finished third that year, but driving a semi-works team Toyota Celica. Patel and Tundo followed in that order in 2021 to deny foreign, fully fledged second-tier drivers the Safari Rally Kenya glory.
This was a confirmation of the Kenyans’ great depth of talent and high status of the national championship being competitive enough to produce world-class drivers despite the Safari sitting out of the World Rally Championship for 19 years.
Unfortunately, this newfound revelation did not transform or impact positively in rallies generally. First, the Kabras Sugar Racing Team was disbanded after Multiple Hauliers Team took a break.
Sponsorship started drying as ageing machines in the rally scene affected even more drivers.
Last year’s Safari lacked the shine of the previous year with no Kenyan or even African having a machine which would match the speed of the European professionals. Nearly all Kenyans were forced to compete in the national championship category of the Safari but still gave a good account of themselves with Tundo in 13th leading Jasmeet Chana (14th) and Maxine Wahome (17th).
But all is not lost with the emergence of Patel chasing a treble in Africa and the world in selected events. He will be in Uganda this weekend for the Africa Championship Pearl of Africa Ugandan round as his final preparations in a Ford Fiesta R3 before the Safari.
Man-of-the-moment
He is accompanied by young Rio Smith, 20, in a Subaru Impreza GVB who has decreed that he is developing his rallying career as he matures with time.
Then there is the man-of-the-moment Hamza Anwar who competed in the Croatia round of the Junior WRC category after Sweden, determined to show his teeth in his WRC home round. Kenyans and Ugandans should be given incentives including commercial sponsorship to give Africa a sense of ownership of the Safari and for own good of supporters.
There are many advantages associated with the Safari and picking a winning driver supersedes everything else. First, a Kenyan driver, like the trio of 2021, is guaranteed TV exposure on WRC+ TV, thereby brand visibility and immediate investment returns for the sponsor.
Secondly, it’s time for the current generation to get a feel of national pride of our own competing against the best and giving a good account of themselves. The old generation remembers with pride how they looked forward to each Safari edition to see the likes of Joginder Singh, Shekhar Mehta, Vic Preston Senior and Junior, Mike Kirkland, Rob Collinge and Ian Duncan fare better against the best.
They more than often won or dominated the Safari. Kenya should not let the bad omen of the new millennium in the last four years (1999-2002) creep back when locals started becoming aliens in their own event at home which reached the nadir in 2002 when no Kenyan driver finished the Safari for the first time in its history.
