NAIROBI, KENYA — Although the Kenya National Rally Championship (KNRC) culminated in a rather bizarre boardroom debate, the 2005 season was literally a far cry from previous seasons. For rallying enthusiasts, the ended season relived the 1960s and 1970s when a mere mention of the word Safari during, Easter holidays, would trigger excitement countywide.

The success story of the December 1-10 East African Classic Safari Rally and renewed spectator fervour in the nine-round KNRC circuit, sponsored by Kenya Commercial Bank, were the highlight of the 2005 season. Indeed, there was improved organisation as opposed to previous years.

The re-branding of the KNRC series and, especially, the introduction of specially designated tarmac spectator stages ignited a lot of enthusiasm. The 2005 season, it can be recalled, also gave spectators some unforgettable moments. In particular was the huge crowd of spectators who thronged Uhuru Park to witness the KCB Safari Rally 2005, which ran as a round of the African Rally Championship (ARC).

After three years of running the KNRC on a voluntary basis, with each event sourcing for its own sponsorship, KCB finally offered the much-needed financial backing with a package of Sh18.5m for the nine rounds. Unlike in the previous years when entries were difficult to come by, this time round organisers found themselves overwhelmed, due to the merging of six 2WD championships running concurrently with KNRC rounds.

Fireproof suits

2005 will go down as the year when the fireproof suits rule was enforced to enhance safety standards as well as adhere to FIA statutes. In a bid to have Safari Rally reinstated in the World Rally Championship (WRC) calendar, officials of the Kenya Motor Sports Limited (KMSL) moved to introduced the compact sprint format as opposed to the endurance concept that was viewed as a car breaker by manufacturers.

The Safari Rally, renamed the KCB Safari Rally 2005, returned to its traditional KICC venue but only as a round of the ARC. FIA observer, Derrick Ledger, described it as “a true African experience” when asked to compare the event with the Rally of South Africa, which is basically a special stage competition.

Kenya and South Africa have been fighting for the WRC slot since October 2002 when the Safari was dropped from the FIA calendar. But Ledger said a lot ought to be accomplished in organisational set-up and government support for Kenyan to meet FIA standards. Since manufacturers have a say in the drafting of the WRC calendar, South Africa remains the hottest prospect on the continent, owing to its larger car market and financial muscle. KMSL staged two WRC candidate rallies at the Coast in 2003 and 2004 but they did not endear a FIA observer.

Mark Tilbury, the rallies commission boss, announced in May that they would use the 2007 Safari Rally edition to lobby for a place in the 2008 WRC calendar. But Tilbury reckoned that the FIA bid required immense government support since it was one of the beneficiaries of the WRC Safari. Little support has, however, been forthcoming from the government since last July when former Sports minister, Achillo Ayacko, promised to gazette the Safari so as to allow it budgetary allocation.

The Classic Safari, which features pre-1974 machines, showed great potential in stealing the show from the Safari Rally in the near future, should it secure better corporate backing.

Tourism promotion

It was a rare opportunity for local spectators to rub shoulders with former champions, Bjorn Waldegaard, Juha Kankkunen and Stig Blomqvist in the Classic. It also evoked memories of the old type Safari that featured Porsche, Datsun, Ford Escort and Mercedes Benz cars, among others.

Although the Classic had nothing to do with the state-of-the-art WRC way of rallying, the event impacted positively on the Kenyan economy as a sports tourism promotion. Over 300 crews visited the country during the 10-day competition.

With enhanced international publicity, the country’s picturesque landscape and wildlife are being envisaged as a means to market Kenya as a tourist destination through rallying.

Among the biggest rallying achievers this season were Azar Anwar, runner-up Carl Tundo, Glen Edmunds and Rob Collinge. Besides winning the National Group N’ title, Anwar recaptured the KNRC title in a boardroom verdict whereas Glen Edmunds won the KCB Safari 2005 after the former was penalised six minutes for using illegal suspension arms. The Collinge, 57, a former KNRC and motor sportsman-of-the-year ended his rallying career in style with both the autocross and Classic Safari accolades.

Collinge began rallying 34 years ago, aged 23, when he entered his first Safari Rally. In the KNRC, Alastair Cavenagh won the most stages and was for the second year running the fastest driver. He had to, however, contend with mechanical gremlins that saw him retire after six of the nine rallies. The entire season had only two leaders — Azar and Cavenagh. Cavenagh, who easily won the first two opening rounds in Nairobi and Eldoret, led the KNRC series with a flawless score of 160 points but surrendered the lead to Anwar who clung onto it.

Azar and Tundo were locked up in a tussle for the coveted title after Ugandan Riyaz Kurji’s maiden win on Kenyan soil. The bone of contention was whether or not Kurji could score points in the KNRC. The situation then was that Tundo, who took second in Guru Nanak, would be crowned the 2005 champion had Kurji not scored points. Azar, who came third in the season-ender, would also be home and dry had Kurji scored points. But after the Rallies Commission meeting which preceded ratification by the Motor Sports Council, Azar was awarded the title amidst protests.

It emerged that the Ugandan was eligible for KNRC points because he was a holder of a temporary Kenyan licence. It also emerged that Kurji had surrendered (physically) his Ugandan competition licence to his parent ASN (the FMU) who later communicated to KMSL through a letter.

Source: Samson Ateka, The Standard