Nairobi, Kenya, May 15 2020–The 2020 Safari Rally Kenya has been postponed until next year due to the Novel COVID 19 Pandemic, the Kenya Government has announced.
A new suitable date will be announced later, said Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Sports, Arts and Culture Ambassador Amina Mohammed in a press statement.
She added: “The decision was reached after sustained discussion between the Government of Kenya, WRC Promoter and the International Motorsport Association (FIA) since March when Coronavirus was declared a global pandemic.
The Safari was slated for July 16-19 after an 18-year absence from the WRC.
Despite this setback work of organizing a world-class event will continue as if it will still be held in July, the CEO of the Safari Rally Phineas Kimathi said.
He confirmed that the route has been finalised and work at the KWS Training Institute Service Park will be completed as scheduled.
“We are grateful to the Patron, His Excellency President Uhuru Kenyatta for his unwavering support and counsel as we deliberated on the next best step,” the CS said in a statement.
“We also owe exceptional gratitude to the President of the FIA, Mr. Jean Todt, and the WRXC Promoter led by Oliver Ciesla for their unyielding support since we commenced engagements to return the Safari Rally to the WRC circuit.”
The Safari becomes the latest event in the WRC 2020 calendar to be affected by COVID 19 after Argentina, Portugal, and Italy.
“The organising teams continue to work hard to make sure that we deliver a world-class event. We are at an advanced stage to complete the Service Park located in Nakuru County and are in line with the set completion timelines. We have also completed the Event Safety Plan, Itinerary and Supplementary Regulations all delivered within the given FIA and WRC timelines and will move forward to complete all the requisite arrangements. We encourage the drivers and all stakeholders to keep in touch with the secretariat as we ready ourselves for the new dates.” said Phineas.