WRC: Safari Rally back in 2019 Calendar (maybe)
Hi, Steemers!
Good news! Safari Rally could be back in WRC in 2019 after 17 year stint. Last time Safari had WRC slot in 2002. And that was great time of sport. McRae, Burns, Makinen, Solberg, Delacour, Gronholm, Rovanpera, Panizzi, Gardemeister, Schwarz, Loix were competing and had chance of winning. It was out of World Rally Championship when government funding dried up after 2002, but has continued as a home or IRC event since then.
Safari Rally was one of the WRC's most important rallies, with many manufacturers went in Africa to see how strong their car is.
Phineas Kimathi is Kenyan Motorsport Federation chairman who met with WRC Promoter chief O. Ciesla and made kind of agreement. Kimathi says he has strong funding and the kind of closed-road, Rift Valley route that is required for modern rallying. That means no more open roads stages long more then 100 km and that could be boring in a way. But to have Safari Rally back in WRC is more important.
Today Ogier wins (and with this year's contaversal rule some other guys as well, but not next season) or somebody else from VW.
So, there's no more VW and that's good because no domination is good.
Show must go on!
Cheers!