Measures to secure future of Kenyan motorsports reassuring

Azar Anwar

Veteran rally driver Azar Anwar showcases the route-opening Toyota Yaris car that will be used in this year’s WRC Safari Rally at Kasarani on May 30, 2022.

Photo credit: Elias Makori | Nation Media Group

What you need to know:

  • Just last weekend, Kenya’s 18-year-old driver Jaivir Dudhley was fastest in the FIA Rally Star Africa competition in Pretoria, outpacing more exposed young drivers from South Africa and Israel who were part of the 39-strong field.
  • Max Smart of South Africa won the competition with compatriot Mogamad Yusuf Achmat picked as the reserve driver as another South African, Kristie Ellis, qualified as the top female driver.

Seven cars completed last weekend’s Eldoret Rally from a start-list of 10, raising concern over the falling number of entries in the Kenya National Rally Championship (KNRC).

Karan Patel and Tauseef Khan led the seven finishers home in Eldoret as the pair continues to dominate the 2022 KNRC season.

Multiple reasons have been afforded for such decline in numbers, including the fact that the harsh economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic severely affected crews’ purchasing power.

Motorsport is a costly sport and with corporates having felt the pinch throughout the Covid-19 period, it’s hardly surprising, therefore, that sponsorship has been had to come by for the drivers.

However, all is not lost as the Kasarani-headquartered Kenya Motor Sport Federation (KMSF) and WRC Safari Rally are burning the midnight oil, with some positives to draw that offer hope for the sport’s future.

Improving competitive edge

Most significantly, the WRC Safari Rally has teamed up with the International Automobile Federation (FIA) and M-Sport Poland to provide Ford Fiesta R3 cars for Kenya’s top junior drivers, McRae Kimathi, Jeremy Wahome, Maxine Wahome and Hamza Anwar to drive at next month’s Safari.

Besides improving their competitive edge, the Ford Fiesta drive will further enhance the young drivers’ skills, confidence and make them more competitive on the local circuit in years to come as the veterans – the likes of Carl Tundo, Baldev Chager, Ian Duncan, Onkar Rai, and others - eventually take their final bow.

It will be reassuring to see these young drivers, alongside another youngster, Rio Smith, dine with the big boys in next month’s WRC Safari Rally, the sixth round of the World Rally Championship.

Just last weekend, Kenya’s 18-year-old driver Jaivir Dudhley was fastest in the FIA Rally Star Africa competition in Pretoria, outpacing more exposed young drivers from South Africa and Israel who were part of the 39-strong field.

Max Smart of South Africa won the competition with compatriot Mogamad Yusuf Achmat picked as the reserve driver as another South African, Kristie Ellis, qualified as the top female driver.

Kenya had initially entered Brandon Nganga, but the 15-year-old was ruled out for being “too young” for the competition meant for 17 to 25 year olds and whose jury members included Penina Solberg (wife of veteran rally driver Petter Solberg), rally legends Sebastian Loeb, Michele Mouton and Guy Botterill.

The top prize for the FIA Rally Star African Final is a place in the 2023 FIA Rally Star Training Season, which will include six rallies in an M-Sport Ford Fiesta Rally3, physical and intellectual assessment, driver coaching and testing.

That Jaivir went all the way to the final, clocking the fastest time and only failing to make the top position owing to other considerations offers further hope that the future of Kenyan motorsports is in safe hands.

Further good news is that veteran rally driver Azar Anwar, winner of the 2006 Safari Rally, has successfully completed the assembling of the route-opening car for the June 23-26 WRC Safari Rally.

The Toyota Yaris has been developed at Anwar’s garage to international rally standards and has been approved by the FIA for use as the “Zero Car” that will open the route during the Safari.

Most of the safety parts of this special car, including the roll cage, have been imported and Anwar maintains that with government tax waivers for such components, it would be the possible to develop more affordable units that can be used in the KNRC competition.

This would make rallying cheaper and inject more life into the local rounds.

Despite the severe economic challenges faced in the last couple of years, the efforts so far by WRC Safari Rally CEO Phineas Kimathi and his team at rally headquarters must not go unnoticed as they hold key to revamping domestic rallying.

It’s not all doom and gloom for the KNRC as may be feared, but, rather, a tactical retreat that will usher in interesting times ahead.

Also, experience gained by local motorsports officials in managing the WRC Safari Rally will certainly hold domestic fixtures in good stead. Kimathi assures that the foundation is critical to the development of the sport and with the government having committed to funding the Safari Rally as a round of the World Rally Championship until, at least, 2026, it’s only prudent to have a solid domestic competition.

And talking of interesting times ahead, the Nation Media Group, through NTV, has lined up an exciting motor expo at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre this Friday from 7am as part of the build-up towards the Safari Rally.

Look out for the WRC Safari Rally stand at the expo where fans will have an opportunity to learn more about motorsports, and about the Safari.

NTV holds the free-to-air Kenyan television rights for the 2022 World Rally Championship and has lined up a bumper broadcast of the June 23-26 WRC Safari Rally.