2024 WRC Safari Rally Preparations Deadlines Released
Nairobi, Kenya- The WRC Safari Rally The Clerk of Course Gurvi Bhabra has shared the FIA deadlines of the WRC Safari Rally listing the publication of Rally Guide 2 on November 28 as a priority.
The WRC Safari Rally has been moved forward by three months from June to fit into the traditional Easter Holiday calendar dates of March 28-31 in Nairobi and Naivasha which give Kenyans ample time to fit the event in their holiday break.
The Easter Safari Rally date was actualized by President William Ruto who appealed to the FIA and the WRC Promoter, according to the Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba to give Kenyans ample time to attend the action in Naivasha and Gilgil and enjoy the traditional Easter fiesta last witnessed in 1996.
Preparations for the 2024 WRc Safari Rally kick off properly on November 28 when the organizers publish the soft copy of Rally Guide 1, the document containing all requirements of the Safari Rally notably the route itinerary, information on Kenya as a country, list of hotels, hospitals, transport companies, safety, security and media information.
Rally Guide 2 as a final document will be published on February 29 next year after the close of competitors’ entries three days earlier.
Kenya has already presented the Insurance questionnaire and documentation, draft itinerary, and maps to the FIA and the WRC Promoter for onward transmission to the manufacturers’ teams’ and tyre supplier Pirelli.
Bhabra has said that one of the new changes in this year’s Safari in the route is the reverse order of start and finish of Friday and Saturday stages compared to the last three editions.
While the Kasarani Super Special Stage on March 28 remains the same, the Kedong stage, starting inside Kedong Ranch 10km from Naivasha town in Moi South Road, will end where it normally starts.
The same will happen on March 30 with the rally’s day action starting from Sleeping Warrior, another area with good spectating views and accessible through Kikopey shopping Centre on Naivasha-Nakuru highway, and finishing at Soysambu after Elementaita.
Malewa, Oserian, and Hells Gate stages remain the same on Sunday like this year.
Organizers are expected to have completed the Safety Plan and Supplementary Regulations on December 28 and the Medical Questionnaire on January 28. Safety and medical components are the cornerstone of the Safari Rally as they involve the sanctity of human life.
Doctors Raj Jutley and David Karuri are tasked with ensuring all medical emergency cases are handled expediently. The medical team was able to attend to Georgios Vasilakis from Greece and his British navigator Timo Krawszik who were involved in a road accident on June 25 at the Gilgil weighbridge along the Naivasha-Nakuru highway when the Ford Fiesta Rally 2 hit a concrete barrier comprehensively damaged the car while lying 23rd overall.
Fortunately, both Vasilakis and Krawszik managed to escape from their rally car before the medical team arrived at the scene 15 minutes later in a helicopter. They were given medical attention before being flown to Aga Khan Hospital by an ace aviator who landed the chopper in the middle of the road within 30 minutes.
