The Safari Rally is an automobile rally held in Kenya. It was first held in 1953 as a celebration of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. The event was part of the World Rally Championship from 1973 until 2002, before returning in 2021. It is historically regarded as one of the toughest events in the World Rally Championship, and one of the most popular rallies in Africa. From 2003, a historical event (East African Safari Rally) has been held biennially.
History It was first held from 27 May to 1 June 1953 as the East African Coronation Safari in Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika,The name Tanzania did not exist in 1953 as a celebration of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. In 1960 it was renamed the East African Safari Rally and kept that name until 1974, when it became the Safari Rally. From 1973, the rally was part of the World Rally Championship.
The route featured a variety of roads and terrain - from fesh fesh (very fine powdered sand), fast farm tracks, and very rough roads up or down the Great Rift Valley. In heavy rain, roads would often turn into thick, deep mud. The event was run on open roads, with all of the route being competitive mileage. The driver with the lowest accumulation of penalty time between time controls was declared the winner.
The rally was historically one of the fastest events in the world championship with average speeds over . However, the roughness of the terrain and the long stages meant that the winner was often the most reliable or the fastest cautious driver. In later years, top rally teams would use helicopters to fly ahead of the cars to warn of animals or other vehicles on the rally route.
Teams built specially strengthened cars for the event, with bullbars, snorkels (for river crossings) and bright lights to warn wildlife. In the 1990s, Toyota Team Europe had a full-time test team in Kenya, preparing and testing the rally cars for the event. During the rally, repairs had to be regularly made to the cars, which added to the elapsed time of the competitors. In later years, tyre mousse - allowing tyres to maintain functionality despite a puncture - allowed drivers to tackle the event flat out, despite the length of the event.
In 1996, the event adopted the special stage format, and servicing cars from helicopters was prohibited. From that edition until 2002, it featured around 2000 km of timed stages, with stages well over long, unlike most rallies which had under of total timed distance. This meant that the winner's total time penalty was above 12 hours in 1996 and decreased to two seconds shy of 8 hours in 2002. Despite this, the rally continued to be run on open roads. The event was excluded from the WRC calendar due to a lack of finance and organisation in 2003.
Modern event From the 2003 edition, the event became part of the African Rally Championship. The event was modernised, with shorter stages and running on closed roads - like other events in the World Championship. Two editions of the rally - 2007 and 2009 - were also part of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. In 2013, President of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta announced a plan to return the Safari Rally to the world championship.
On the 27 September 2019, it was announced that the 2020 edition would be part of the World Rally Championship. This event was later cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Safari Rally eventually made a comeback to the WRC in 2021 after an eighteen-year hiatus from the 24–27 June, with a successful event held in Kenya on the floor of the Rift Valley in Naivasha, Nakuru County. Sebastian Ogier and Julien Ingrassia emerged as winners in their Toyota Yaris WRC. The Safari has a WRC contract until 2026.
Winners Kenyan drivers Shekhar Mehta and Carl Tundo have been the most successful competitors, with five outright victories each. Mehta won first in 1973, then consecutively from 1979 to 1982 - all while the event was part of the world championship. Tundo won five editions when the event was part of the African Rally Championship - the 2004, 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2018 events. Tundo has also finished on the podium twelve times, ahead of fellow Kenyan Ian Duncan with nine podium finishes. Year Rally Name / Dates Winning Driver Co-driver Winning Car Status1953 1st Coronation Safari Rally Alan Dix Johnny Larsen Volkswagen Beetle 1954 2nd Coronation Safari Rally D P Marwaha Vic Preston Sr Volkswagen Beetle 1955 3rd Coronation Safari Rally Vic Preston Sr D P Marwaha Ford Zephyr 1956 4th Coronation Safari Rally Eric Cecil Tony Vickers DKW 1957 5th Coronation Safari Rally Gus Hofmann Arthur Burton Volkswagen Beetle 1958 6th Coronation Safari Rally T. Brooke Arne Kopperud Morris Temple-Boreham Peter Hughes Kora Kopperud Mike Armstrong Ford Anglia 100E (Impala class) Ford Zephyr II (Lion class) Auto Union 1000 (Leopard class) 1959 7th Coronation Safari Rally Bill Fritschy Jack Ellis Mercedes-Benz 219 1960 8th East African Safari Rally Bill Fritschy Jack Ellis Mercedes-Benz 219 1961 9th East African Safari Rally John Manussis Bill Coleridge David Bekett Mercedes-Benz 220SE 1962 10th East African Safari Rally Tommy Fjastad Bernhard Schmider Volkswagen 1200 1963 11th East African Safari Rally Nick Nowicki Paddy Cliff Peugeot 404 1964 12th East African Safari Rally Peter Hughes Bill Young Ford Cortina GT 1965 13th East African Safari Rally Joginder Singh Jaswant Singh Volvo PV 544 1966 14th East African Safari Rally Bert Shankland Chris Rothwell Peugeot 404 1967 15th East African Safari Rally Bert Shankland Chris Rothwell Peugeot 404 1968 16th East African Safari Rally Nick Nowicki Paddy Cliff Peugeot 404 1969 17th East African Safari Rally Robin Hillyar Jock Aird Ford Taunus 20M RS 1970 18th East African Safari Rally Edgar Herrmann Hans Schüller Datsun 1600 SSS 1971 19th East African Safari Rally Edgar Herrmann Hans Schüller Datsun 240Z 1972 20th East African Safari Rally (30 Mar – 3 Apr) Hannu Mikkola Gunnar Palm Ford Escort RS1600 IMC1973 21st East African Safari Rally (19 – 23 Apr) Shekhar Mehta Lofty Drews Datsun 240Z WRC1974 22nd East African Safari Rally (11 – 15 Apr) Joginder Singh David Doig Mitsubishi Lancer 1600 GSR WRC1975 23rd Safari Rally (27 – 31 Mar) Ove Andersson Arne Hertz Peugeot 504 WRC1976 24th Safari Rally (15 – 19 Apr) Joginder Singh David Doig Mitsubishi Lancer 1600 GSR WRC1977 25th Safari Rally (7 – 11 Apr) Björn Waldegård Hans Thorszelius Ford Escort RS1800 WRC1978 26th Safari Rally (23 – 27 Mar) Jean-Pierre Nicolas Jean-Claude Lefèbvre Peugeot 504 V6 Coupé WRC1979 27th Safari Rally (12 – 16 Apr) Shekhar Mehta Mike Doughty Datsun 160J WRC1980 28th Marlboro Safari Rally (3 – 7 Apr) Shekhar Mehta Mike Doughty Datsun 160J WRC1981 29th Marlboro Safari Rally (16 – 20 Apr) Shekhar Mehta Mike Doughty Nissan Violet GT WRC1982 30th Marlboro Safari Rally (8 – 12 Apr) Shekhar Mehta Mike Doughty Nissan Violet GT WRC1983 31st Marlboro Safari Rally (30 Mar – 4 Apr) Ari Vatanen Terry Harryman Opel Ascona 400 WRC1984 32nd Marlboro Safari Rally (19 – 23 Apr) Björn Waldegård Hans Thorszelius Toyota Celica TCT WRC1985 33rd Marlboro Safari Rally (4 – 8 Apr) Juha Kankkunen Fred Gallagher Toyota Celica TCT WRC1986 34th Marlboro Safari Rally (29 Mar – 2 Apr) Björn Waldegård Fred Gallagher Toyota Celica TCT WRC1987 35th Marlboro Safari Rally (16 – 20 Apr) Hannu Mikkola Arne Hertz Audi 200 Quattro WRC1988 36th Marlboro Safari Rally (31 Mar – 4 Apr) Miki Biasion Tiziano Siviero Lancia Delta HF Integrale WRC1989 37th Marlboro Safari Rally (23–27 Mar) Miki Biasion Tiziano Siviero Lancia Delta HF Integrale WRC1990 38th Marlboro Safari Rally (11–16 Apr) Björn Waldegård Fred Gallagher Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165 WRC1991 39th Martini Safari Rally 27 (Mar – 1 Apr) Juha Kankkunen Juha Piironen Lancia Delta HF Integrale 16v WRC1992 40th Martini Safari Rally 27 (Mar – 1 Apr) Carlos Sainz Luis Moya Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD WRC1993 41st Trustbank Safari Rally (8–12 Apr) Juha Kankkunen Juha Piironen Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD WRC1994 42nd Trustbank Safari Rally (31 Mar – 3 Apr) Ian Duncan David Williamson Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD WRC1995 43rd Safari Rally Kenya (14–17 Apr) Yoshio Fujimoto Arne Hertz Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD 2LWC1996 44th Safari Rally Kenya (5–7 Apr) Tommi Mäkinen Seppo Harjanne Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution III WRC1997 45th Safari Rally Kenya (1–3 Mar) Colin McRae Nicky Grist Subaru Impreza WRC97 WRC1998 46th Safari Rally Kenya (28 Feb – 2 Mar) Richard Burns Robert Reid Mitsubishi Carisma GT Evolution IV (Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV) WRC1999 47th 555 Safari Rally (26–28 Feb) Colin McRae Nicky Grist Ford Focus WRC WRC2000 48th Sameer Safari Rally (25–27 Feb) Richard Burns Robert Reid Subaru Impreza WRC00 WRC2001 49th Safari Rally (20–22 Jul) Tommi Mäkinen Risto Mannisenmäki Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 6.5 WRC2002 50th Inmarsat Safari Rally (12–14 Jul) Colin McRae Nicky Grist Ford Focus RS WRC 02 WRC2003 51st KCB Safari Equator Rally Kenya (9–11 Oct) Glen Edmunds Titch Phillips Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI ARC2004 52nd KCB Safari Rally Kenya (12–14 Mar) Carl Tundo Tim Jessop Subaru Impreza ARC2005 53rd KCB Safari Rally (15th – 17th Jul) Glen Edmunds Des Page-Morris Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII ARC2006 54th KCB Safari Rally (24 – 26 Mar) Azar Anwar George Mwangi Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI ARC2007 55th KCB Safari Rally (9–11 Mar) Conrad Rautenbach Peter Marsh Subaru Impreza N10 IRC & ARC2008 56th KCB Safari Rally (27–29 Jun) Lee Rose Piers Daykin Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX ARC2009 57th KCB Safari Rally (3–5 Apr) Carl Tundo Tim Jessop Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX IRC & ARC2010 58th KCB Safari Rally (2–4 Apr) Lee Rose Piers Daykin Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX ARC2011 59th KCB Safari Rally (17–19 Jun) Carl Tundo Tim Jessop Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX ARC2012 60th KCB Safari Rally (8–10 Jun) Carl Tundo Tim Jessop Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX ARC2013 61st KCB Safari Rally (5–7 Jul) Baldev Chager Ravi Soni Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X ARC2014 62nd KCB Safari Rally (12–14 Sep) Baldev Chager Ravi Soni Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X ARC2015 63rd KCB Safari Rally (4–5 Apr) Singh Chatthe Jaspreet Panesar Gurdeep Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X R4 KRC2016 64th KCB Safari Rally (10–11 Jun) Singh Chatthe Jaspreet Panesar Gurdeep Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X R4 KRC2017 65th Safari Rally (17–18 Mar) Tapio Laukkanen Gavin Laurence Subaru Impreza WRX STi 4 D R4 ARC & KRC2018 66th Safari Rally (16–18 Mar) Carl Tundo Tim Jessop Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X R4 ARC & KRC2019 67th Safari Rally (5–7 Jul) Baldev Chager Ravi Soni Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X R4 ARC & KRC2020 68th Safari Rally (16–19 Jul) Cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns2021 68th Safari Rally (24–27 Jun) Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Toyota Yaris WRC WRC2022 69th Safari Rally (23–26 Jun) Kalle Rovanperä Jonne Halttunen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 WRC2023 70th Safari Rally (22–25 Jun) Sebastien Ogier Vincent Landais Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 WRC2024 71st Safari Rally (28–31 Mar) Kalle Rovanperä Jonne Halttunen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 WRC2025 72nd Safari Rally (20-23 Mar) Elfyn Evans Scott Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 WRC2026 73rd Safari Rally (12-15 Mar) Takamoto Katsuta Aaron Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 WRC
Notes: IMC = International Championship for Manufacturers, WRC = World Rally Championship, 2LWC = 2-Litre World Cup, ARC = African Rally Championship, IRC = Intercontinental Rally Challenge, KRC = Kenya National Rally Championship
East African Safari Rally (classic) The East African Safari Rally officially known as East African Safari classic Rally is a Classic rally event first held in 2003 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the first running of the event. The event has since been held biennially. The nine day event takes place over , and is open to vehicles built before 1985. The 2017 edition of the rally had joint winners, as both Richard Jackson and Carl Tundo had the same time.