Why WRC's Safari tour is more than just a rally

OPINION: A source of national pride in Kenya, the Safari Rally is also a sporting, cultural and economic phenomenon. And as last weekend's World Rally Championship round reminded us, it's a key driver in establishing Africa’s place in world motorsport

Tom Howard Jun 29, 2022, 10:09 AM

Upd: Jun 29, 2022, 1:46 PM

When a motorsport event has its own anthem, it’s a clear sign that this is a big deal. That was indeed the case for last weekend’s Safari Rally Kenya, one of motorsport’s last remaining great adventures. This anthem created for one event per year was belted out by a tuneful local choir to the masses gathered outside parliament buildings in Kenyan capital Nairobi, as the country’s president Uhuru Kenyatta greeted the World Rally Championship teams.

The reason for such fanfare is that the WRC’s trip to Kenya is the country’s largest sporting event and is deeply rooted in the nation’s culture. But the Safari isn’t just that, it’s currently Africa’s only opportunity to showcase itself to the motorsport world.

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Author Tom Howard

Tom Howard is a News Editor working across both Autosport.com and Motorsport.com websites. Starting out as a sports reporter in local newspapers, Tom focussed on motorsport covering several national championships in the UK, including the BTCC.

After a period working as a freelance journalist, Tom moved to Australia in 2013 landing a job at leading Australian motorsport news outlet speedcafe.com, covering international motorsport events including F1, WRC and Supercars. Progressing to Editor in 2017, Tom was named Motorsport Australia Journalist of the Year for his work. He is also a two-time winner of Supercars Journalist of The Year (2017,2019) and a Supercars Championship Media Award winner in 2019.

Tom moved back to his native UK in 2020, firstly working in BTCC, before joining Autosport and motorsport.com in 2021.