The year just-ended marked a quantum leap for motorsport in Kenya — the World Rally Championship Safari Rally was a whiff of fresh air on the continent where the coronavirus pandemic almost brought everything to a grinding halt.
This would not have been possible without the tenacious efforts of a group of dedicated men and women. WRC Safari Rally chief executive officer and rally legend Phineas Kimathi takes pride of place for the relentless effort they made for the iconic rally to become a reality.
While growing up in Meru, he one time vowed that one day he would become a rally driver.
His dream came true. And it 2002 when things went south and the Safari Rally was excluded from the WRC calendar, he promised himself that given a chance he will change the course of the river.
Unknown to many, the Safari Rally dream was not a walk down the river. Not until June 24 last year when the first Sh120 million Toyota Yaris felt the Kenyan soil at Ndulele Conversancy shakedown stage.
The journey began on June 29, 2016 when Kimathi, then newly elected as chairman of the Kenya Motor Sports Federation (KMSF) attended the International Motorsports Federation (FIA) annual Sports conference in Turin, Italy where he engaged immediate former FIA chief Jean Todt and the WRC Promoter — WRC commercial arm — managing Director Oliver Siesla.
Friendships were birthed. For one reason or another, the FIA really wanted to return to Africa but no serious efforts were made to actualise the plan.
This was happening at a time when President Uhuru Kenyatta, himself a rally enthusiast, had promised in the Jubilee manifesto of 2013 to ensure that the Safari returned to the WRC calendar in the Jubilee Party’s manifesto of 2013.
But things went from bad to worse in 2017, despite the government committing Sh250 million to the rally. The Ministry of Sports is one of the least funded, therefore, the money was diverted to the 2018 Commonwealth Games that were held in Gold Coast, Australia.
The Safari Rally already had an office at Kasarani Stadium; staff went for months without pay and the journey was extremely rough.
But at least there was food supplied daily by Jane Kimathi under a welfare programme. The original nuclear WRC Safari Rally family will forever be thankful to her.
In the meantime, Safari Rally CEO Kimathi transversed the globe to sell the Safari . One of my journalist friends described it as a “mission in futility”.
And I quote: “Phineas is loitering the whole world selling the unsaleable, supported by his stooge…. (read yours faithful) —a story for another day.”
Kimathi spent his money to sell the Safari. This paid off. On June 24, 2018 the Kenya Government entered into an agreement with the WRC Promoter, with a big nod from the FIA to stage the 2019 Africa Rally Championship as a World Rally Championship Candidate Event.
As mentioned earlier, this was no walk down the river. People suffered until President Kenyatta intervened and led from the front. Kenya was reinstated in the 2020 WRC calender after 19 years but Covid-19 ruined the party and the event was held last year.
The 2021 WRC Safari, to say the least, was a state function. The team worked around the clock, and the biggest nightmare was traffic and crowd control.
But Police Commissioner Julius Kabiru and his team drawn from Administration Police, regular police, National Youth Service and Kenya Wildlife Service did a splendid job.
Of course, lion-hearted Gurvir Babhra assisted by Nazir Yahub, indefatigable Anwar Sidi and jovial George Mwangi created a fantastic route. Anthony Gatei, the Service Park manager, was on top of things. Due to space, we can’t mention everyone, but kudos to the entire team! BY DAILY NATION