Support for the Safari comes from the highest level of Kenyan politics with president Uhuru Kenyatta pushing hard – having included it as part of his successful election manifesto in 2012.
President Kenyatta raised the potential for a Safari return with FIA president Jean Todt and reported positive feedback.
Kenyan Motorsport Federation chairman Phineas Kimathi is the driving force behind the project.
Kimathi met with WRC Promoter chief Oliver Ciesla and is understood to have an agreement in principle – based on strong funding and the kind of closed-road, Rift Valley route that would deliver the all-important televisual backdrop.
The Safari Rally was one of the WRC’s most important events, with many manufacturers rating success in Africa almost as highly as the world title itself.
It was dropped from the WRC when government funding dried up after 2002, but has continued as a domestic event since then.
Source: Eurosport
