Phineas Kimathi steers Safari Rally fast towards WRC return

Of late the chairman of the Kenya Motorsport Federation (KMSF) Phineas Kimathi has been consistently lobbying for the return of the Safari Rally to the World Championship series.

Truth be told, that subject has remained an illusion for 12 years until now.

From Turin to Addis Ababa and now Vienna, Kimathi’s WRC Safari Rally campaign is gaining traction and attention of the mandarins who control this multi-billion dollar series with a cumulative global television reach of over 800 million people annually.

In the first week of December Kimathi will lead a KMSF delegation to the International Motorsport Federation (FIA) Governing Council Meeting in Vienna, Austria where the international 2016 international motorsport calendar will be reviewed.

Dates for the 2017 World Rally Championship (WRC) for some events will be confirmed while discussions on the future of the Safari Rally as a possible WRC event will he held.

This is because in June this year Kimathi held talks with the FIA WRC Promoter Managing Director Oliver Ciesla in Turin, Italy during the FIA Sports Conference, which also included an exhibition of classic rally cars, some of them like the Lancia Stratos and Rallye 037 which though then the top of the range always met their waterloo in Kenya.

These were nostalgic moments buoyed by the presence of Safari Rally greats such as 1983 Safari champion Ari Vatanen and Michelle Mouton, who all agreed a WRC Safari would be the antidote the 13-race series needs to hit the one billion mark global television viewership.

The FIA WRC Promoter venture is headed by Ciesla of The Sportsman Media Group and Jona Siebel of the Red Bull Media House as managing directors.

The company is responsible for all commercial aspects of the FIA World Rally Championship. These include broadcast formats, TV productions and the marketing of global media and sponsorship rights. 

The WRC Promoter also has the responsibility to promote the Championship and to increase the field of participants, consisting both of manufacturers and private teams, subject to the approval of FIA. The Promoter has also the mandate to propose the venues that will form the FIA WRC calendar in future seasons.

In Turin, there was a general consensus that minus the Safari or an event in the African continent, the WRC was not truly a global championship.

“On behalf of the WRC Promoter, I may confirm our strong support to bringing back the “Safari” into the WRC,” Ciesla wrote to Kimathi on June 24.
“It would match our strategic plans to have a WRC event on the African continent and bring to the WRC fans worldwide the unique images that only a rally on Kenyan soil can deliver. We encourage you to engage with your government and we will provide you with all the assistance required, as I am happy to hear that the KMSF is interested for the Safari Rally to rejoin the FIA World Rally Championship.”

FIA’s warming towards Kenya and Ciesla’s apparent support was buoyed by the request of President Uhuru Kenyatta to FIA president Jean Todt when the two met at State House Nairobi last year to help Safari be reinstated in the WRC, in a meeting also attended by Kimathi and KMSF director Jassy Rai.

The President also promised Kenyans in 2012 before the elections that his government would strive to bring back the Safari to the WRC and repeated the same in 2014 when he flagged off the KCB Safari Rally.

Todt has been pushing for a more global calendar, having expressed concern at the Euro-centric schedule.”

This is a world championship and our calendar needs to better reflect that,” said Todt in an interview with Auto Sport magazine early this year.

A possible WRC Safari is also causing a buzz in the world of automakers. Last month a team from Toyota Racing Development were in Kenya on a fact finding mission in a long term goal of preparing well for a possible WRC Safari.

“As you know, the Safari was at one time Toyota’s event and as they prepare to return to the WRC next year, they also have long term goals and want to be well ahead of others when the time comes,” said Kimathi who joined KMSF in 2014 and was elected as chairman in May.

For the Safari to reclaim WRC status the government most be fully involved to be benefit of the country.

A WRC Safari will inject over Sh1.2 billion into the Kenyan economy annually and act as Brand Kenya promotion as a tourism destination.

Governments support of rallying is standard procedure as Kimathi learnt in Turin where delegations from the bigger economies of Abu Dhabi, Canada, Chile, Croatia, India, Japan, Jordan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Russia and Turkey are reported to be at various stages of readiness to run a candidate or even full WRC round.

Big commercial interest sports events are funded by governments and local sponsors in Kenya because of economic windfalls associated with them.

Perfect examples are the 2007 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and the 2010 Africa Senior Athletics Championships which gave Kenya, as a country, good brand visibility.

But athletics is nothing compared to a WRC Safari Rally which in a study by Fox News in 2014 ranked it as the third toughest rally in the world.

The rally used to inject Sh600 million directly into the Kenyan economy and indirectly contributed to tourism arrivals and the global television exposure that reached over 1.5 billion people then.

For example, in 2002, the Safari was cumulatively aired in 150 countries over three days for 500 hours. ISC estimated the free advertising for the Safari in excess of Sh30 billion.

This new development would  translate into renewed interest in the tourism markets of Britain, Spain, France, Russia, Italy and Germany for Kenya.

Like any big global event, the Safari cannot be successfully held without government’s support, the very reason it was kicked out of the championship in 2002. The government could not even pay the paltry Sh2 million license fee to FIA.

Then top FIA leadership could not understand the government’s lack of interest. FIA commercial rights holder ISC of Britain, argued that besides injecting over Sh600 million directly into the Kenyan economy in the two weeks the WRC circus was in town, the country also gained positive brand visibility worldwide.

This greatly promoted Kenya’s flora and fauna, climate and wild game as the ideal tourism destination as captured in the 2002 56 minutes post Safari TV video broadcast worldwide, capturing wild animals running away from speeding cars in Suswa, images not available anywhere else in the world.

This video won a bronze media in short documentary competition in 2002 organised by Channel 4 TV of United Kingdom.

Kimathi said rallying is today television oriented and Kenya as a country will certainly benefit a lot.

Of the Sh600 million budget needed for a WRC Safari, some of it should be in kind like, the government, as the largest land owner in Kenya, identifying areas for the closed stages races, Kimathi said.

Mores support could include customs and duty waiver of competing cars and equipment. The WRC TV equipment alone include two fully fledged 40-ton prime movers. Security is the other issue and inland movement of equipment.

There are also other mandatory costs including the WRC Promoter fee of Sh69 million, commitment fees and frequency waivers. More will go towards provision of security, access to helicopters etc.

KMSF is awaiting government’s direction to prepare an Olympic Games-type bid to be presented to FIA followed by running a WRC Safari dry run in 2017 followed by a candidate event in 2018 or making next year’s Safari a candidate event. But the earliest Kenya can host a WRC is 2019.

Kimathi said it was a very engaging job where everything has to be done right because FIA does not do things in half. They live on precision. And for a man whose career is hotel industry where he has fed over 20,000 people in the wild, logistics will be the by word.

Kenya can take queue from the Irish government, which, understanding the commercial value of the WRC, backed the Welsh WRC round by pumping in Sh240 million on the 2013 rally.

RETURNS ON INVESTMENT THERE FOR ALL TO SEE.

Andrew Coe, Chief Executive of IMS, said Wales took the right economic decision. “It has been calculated Wales Rally brings more than £5m (Sh750million) to the Welsh economy,” Coe was quoted saying. 

“This figure is somewhat conservative taking into account many other equally important if less quantifiable benefits. The enormous international television coverage reminds global audiences of the spectacular scenery and landscapes of North Wales.”

 The 2014 Welsh Rally was different in many ways as it was the first to get live TV transmission which increased the value of hosting the rally to the tune of Sh4.6 billion, according to Rally Ireland Management chief Eddie Jordan.

Kimathi said by conservative estimates, a 2018 WRC Safari would inject over Sh1.2 billion into the Kenyan economy through full board hotel occupancy, hire of helicopters, light air crafts, support personnel and go downs.

By then, as many as seven manufacturers teams will be competing in the WRC.

More fans will be thirsting for the visual attractiveness of the Safari across the globe which will increase numbers of TV viewers.

Since 2013, the WRC promoter has slowly but gradually perfected live stage coverage to global TV.

Besides WRC TV productions, all major news outlets such as CNN, BBC, Aljazeera, France 24 just to mention a few will provide more coverage in their sports news segment of images of competing cars racing past national landmarks like Mt Kenya.

This beats any television commercial in any station.

Last year the FIA announced that the WRC’s cumulative worldwide audience had risen by 27 percent since 2013 and a mix of new agreements and the renewal of existing partnerships will strengthen fan access to WRC this season.

What this means is a Safari on the floor of the Rift Valley, teeming with wild game is the perfect sneak preview of Kenya’s tourism attraction.

WRC Promoter has increased the series’ global broadcast hours by 55 percent in the last three seasons to a staggering 800 million, emphasising the continued demand for WRC coverage. WRC Promoter takes a lot of emphasise on providing on spot real time news reporting and internet streaming.

The WRC TV offers a comprehensive suite of HD programmes from which broadcasters can choose, featuring a magazine-style event preview, daily action highlights, an hour-long post-event report and live stages from all 14 rounds showcased by the crucial Sunday lunchtime Power Stage which closes every rally.

In a Kenyan situation the preview will include testing and variety images of the beautiful and landmarks such Mount Kenya, Kilimanjoro, Lake Victoria, the Rift and Kerio valleys amongst other geographical features.

Since 2013 the WRC promoter has slowly but gradually perfected live stage coverage to global TV. What this means is a Safari on the floor of the Rift Valley, teaming with wild game is the perfect sneak preview of Kenya’s tourism potential.

But a 2019 Safari Rally will not be like a 1990 Safari or pass through villages and public roads teeming with motorcycle riders and roaming cows and goats.

It must be held in closed roads for safety purposes, adds Kimathi who at one time the second highest endorsed Kenyan by such companies like Shell and Kenya Airways .

These are amongst reason of why rallying has changed.”On the one hand we find the ‘traditionalists’ who wants rallying to be what it was ‘back in the days’ and defy any changes made on the behalf of anything but the sport itself,” argues Naess Hans Rick of the University of Oslo.

“On the other hand, we find the ‘modernists’ who desire a real shift into ‘the commercial age’ by adapting to contemporary media consumption patterns and promotional desires. As such, the WRC seemingly is trapped in what is called ‘the paradox of commercialism’.

This paradox is defined as ‘the challenge of extracting commercial value from their brands without compromising the intrinsic “integrity” and spirit of the game’.

FIA also gave time frame and conditions it must fulfill so his second stop was in Addis Ababa in September where the Safari was re-admitted back in the Africa Rally Championship as a precursor towards gaining full FIA recognition.

The dates of the ARC Safari were agreed upon as March 17/18.
FIA also reinstated its technical grant to KMSF of Ksh13,587,262 to train trainers, senior officials, first on scene and extrication, safety and safety planning and control officers.