Safari Rally gear lands in Mombasa

Kits containing equipment for foreign teams have started arriving in Mombasa for onward transportation to Naivasha to be used for World Rally Championship (WRC) Safari Rally.

WRC Safari Rally Head of Logistics, Kimathi Maingi, who is monitoring the movement of the cargo from Europe, said the equipment is being stored on a dry dock before being collectively moved to Naivasha on cargo train directly to Suswa, from where they will be loaded onto trucks and be transported by road to the Wildlife Research and Training Institute ahead of the recce on March 25.

This year's WRC Safari Rally will run from March 28 to 31.

Maingi said that containers for the Toyota Gazoo Racing Team, which have been delayed, are also expected to arrive this week.

“Five containers have already arrived in Mombasa, 11 are expected next week, and 10 more on March 21," said Maingi, who previously worked with the WRC Safari Rally’s Project Local Organising Committee.

“The delay is caused by the Middle East unrest that is affecting the shipping along the Suez Canal. Next week we expect to move the 16 containers to Naivasha. The rest of the consignment will arrive by flight,” he said.

The nine Rally 1 cars for the manufacturer teams and R2 machines for the second-tier competition group will land at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in due course, Maingi added.

“The only worry is the last containers belonging to the Toyota team that have the recce cars. It will be touch and go to clear and transport the containers and have them by March 25,” said Maingi.

He said that Kenya Ports Authority and Kenya Railways have allocated a secure area at the port where the containers will be stored before the allocated one-block train to transport the containers to Naivasha arrives.

Meanwhile, Chief Scrutineer Musa Locho has clarified the status of competition rules for the WRC Safari Rally. All cars will be required to undergo scrutineering to ensure that they conform to the homologation rules defined by the Federation Internationale De I’ Automobile (FIA) Sporting Regulations.

These cars got a Homologation extension and also an exemption to participate in WRC events under a group known as National. However, they need to be prepared in a state that is permitted by the FIA under Appendix J, as far as safety is concerned.

“Depending on how they are presented, you cannot predict if a car will pass scrutineering. Similar to a well-prepared student, how do you know if he or she will pass scrutineering?" he posed.