The Safari Rally is an automobile rally held in Kenya . It was first held in 1953 as a celebration of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II . The event was part of the World Rally Championship from 1973 until 2002, before returning in 2021. It is historically regarded as one of the toughest events in the World Rally Championship , and one of the most popular rallies in Africa. From 2003, a historical event ( East African Safari Rally ) has been held biennially.
44-772: It was first held from 27 May to 1 June 1953 as the East African Coronation Safari in Kenya , Uganda and Tanganyika , as a celebration of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II . In 1960 it was renamed the East African Safari Rally and kept that name until 1974, when it became the Safari Rally. From 1973, the rally was part of the World Rally Championship. The 5,000 kilometres (3,100 mi) route featured
88-442: A puncture - allowed drivers to tackle the event flat out, despite the length of the event. In 1996, the event adopted the special stage format, and servicing cars from helicopters was prohibited. From that edition until 2002, it featured around 2000 km of timed stages, with stages well over 60 kilometres (37 mi) long, unlike most rallies which had under 500 kilometres (310 mi) of total timed distance. This meant that
132-725: A comeback to the WRC in 2021 after an eighteen-year hiatus from the 24–27 June, with a successful event held in Kenya on the floor of the Rift Valley in Naivasha , Nakuru County. Sebastian Ogier and Julien Ingrassia emerged as winners in their Toyota Yaris WRC. The Safari has a WRC contract until 2026. Kenyan drivers Shekhar Mehta and Carl Tundo have been the most successful competitors, with five outright victories each. Mehta won first in 1973, then consecutively from 1979 to 1982 - all while
176-649: A foundation for successful legal claims by former Mau Mau detainees against the British government for crimes committed in the camps. The Colony and the Protectorate each came to an end on 12 December 1963. The United Kingdom ceded sovereignty over the Colony of Kenya under an agreement dated 8 October 1963. The Sultan agreed that simultaneous with independence for Kenya, the Sultan would cease to have sovereignty over
220-731: A republic under the name " Republic of Kenya ". In 1948, the Kenyan government consisted of the Governor, the Executive Council advising him and the Legislative Council . The Executive Council consisted of seven ex-officio members, two appointed Europeans, one appointed European representing African interests, and one appointed Asian (Indian) Ambalal Bhailalbhai Patel. The Legislative Council consisted of 16 appointed officials and 22 elected unofficial members. In 1954,
264-428: A single administrative unit. The colony came to an end in 1963 when a native Kenyan majority government was elected for the first time and eventually declared independence . The Colony and Protectorate of Kenya was established on 23 July 1920 when the territories of the former East Africa Protectorate (except those parts of that Protectorate over which His Majesty the Sultan of Zanzibar had sovereignty) were annexed by
308-405: A single event; Renault (with a seemingly unsuitable R18 GTX ), Skoda and Lada all achieving this. For late 1994, the rules were changed to allow Kit Cars to compete, essentially these were modified F2 vehicles, permitting more modifications over the standard F2/Group A rules. Ford debuted their Ford Escort RS2000 Kit Car, which made its WRC debut at that year's Network Q RAC Rally. With
352-476: A variety of roads and terrain - from fesh fesh (very fine powdered sand), fast farm tracks, and very rough roads up or down the Great Rift Valley . In heavy rain, roads would often turn into thick, deep mud. The event was run on open roads, with all of the route being competitive mileage. The driver with the lowest accumulation of penalty time between time controls was declared the winner. The rally
396-549: A viable option. In 1998, SEAT won the title, making it three back-to-back titles, whilst runners-up Peugeot finished 12 points behind. Vauxhall / Opel debuted their Astra Kit Car at the 1998 Rally of Great Britain , with a second-place finish for Jarmo Kytolehto . The Peugeot 306 Maxi inched closer to an outright WRC victory, running competitive times all through the Monte Carlo Rally , Rallye Catalunya and Rallye Sanremo with Francois Delecour finishing second on
440-603: Is a Classic rally event first held in 2003 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the first running of the event. The event has since been held biennially. The nine day event takes place over 5,000 kilometres (3,100 mi), and is open to vehicles built before 1985. The 2017 edition of the rally had joint winners, as both Richard Jackson and Carl Tundo had the same time. jointly with [REDACTED] Carl Tundo [REDACTED] Tim Jessop Triumph TR7 Kenya Colony The Colony and Protectorate of Kenya , commonly known as British Kenya or British East Africa ,
484-502: The FIA Cup for Manufacturers of Touring Cars (2-Litre) with the series following Group A rules for front wheel drive vehicles, a maximum engine capacity of 2 litres and a single driven axle. General Motors Europe were the most successful team that year, with Skoda finishing runner-up. The rally victories were spread across several manufacturers; GME took the majority of the victories, with seven, whilst several other manufacturers won
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#1732793871830528-714: The French Rally Championship increasingly being held on tarmac only events the Peugeot 306 Maxis and Citroën Xsara Kit Cars would become optimised for the domestic and European championships leaving them less competition in World Rally events held on snow or gravel events. Their ability to snatch wins away from WRC teams became a launching pad into World championship careers, led by Gilles Panizzi and Philippe Bugalski and later emerging French talent Sébastien Loeb . The series started in 1993, then named
572-671: The Kenya Defence Force , and the Kikuyu Guard during the Mau Mau Uprising . . Throughout the post colonial period, Kenya transitioned to a republic that consisted of two legislative chambers that was outlined in their Constitution created in the mid-1960s. Since its implementation, it has been amended to give the region a unicameral assembly that consists of ministers who sit in on the assembly. Corporal punishment , such as flogging , caning , and birching ,
616-534: The 1990s progressed the 2 litre cars proved to be exceptional tarmac rally cars. With more engine freedoms and lighter weights they could match, even beat the turbo 4WD Group A and WRC cars. In particular the kit cars built by the French manufacturers Peugeot and Citroën would prove real threats on the Tour de Corse each year as increasingly they become more like circuit racing cars and less like all-terrain rally cars. With
660-1082: The Colony and Protectorate from the 1880s included the East African Regiment which became the King's African Rifles ; the East African Military Labour Service 1915–1918; the East African Mounted Rifles during the First World War 1914–17; the East African Ordnance Corps; the East African Pay Corps; the East African Pioneer Corps; three East African Reconnaissance Regiments; the East African Artillery
704-1033: The East African Road Construction Corps; the East African Scouts from March 1943, which served as 81st (West Africa) Division 's reconnaissance unit in Burma; the East African Signal Corps; the East African Army Service Corps, expanded quickly at the start of the campaign against Italy in 1941 from 300 to 4,600; the East African Transport Corps; the Kenya Armoured Car Regiment; the Kenya Regiment of white settlers;
748-458: The Favorit with the new Felicia KC , and initially entered it in both 1300 and 1500cc form. Citroën entered a ZX 16v Kit Car , whilst their French rivals Peugeot and Renault entered their 306 Maxi and Clio Maxi cars respectively. SEAT completed the new entries with their Ibiza Kit Car . Peugeot were the victors at the end of the season, as GME were not classified. In 1996, SEAT won
792-408: The Governor as president, a Speaker as vice-president and 56 members. Of the 56, eight sat ex-officio, 18 were appointed by the Governor and took the government whip, 14 were elected Europeans, six were elected Asians, one was an elected Arab, and eight were appointed Africans sitting on the non-government side. There was one appointed Arab sitting on the non-government side. Military forces formed in
836-577: The Indian pressed his case, white South Africa rose in alarm. If the Indian became a recognized man, landholder and voter in Kenya, what of Natal? The British Government speculated and procrastinated and then announced its decision: East Africa was primarily a "trusteeship" for the Africans and not for the Indians. The Indians, then, must be satisfied with limited industrial and political rights, while for
880-439: The Indians asked rights, the whites replied that this would injure the rights of the natives. Immediately the natives began to awake. Few of them were educated but they began to form societies and formulate grievances. A black political consciousness arose for the first time in Kenya. Immediately the Indians made a bid for the support of this new force and asked rights and privileges for all British subjects—white, brown and black. As
924-539: The Protectorate of Kenya. In this way, Kenya became an independent country under the Kenya Independence Act 1963, which established the independent Commonwealth realm of Kenya , with Queen Elizabeth II as head of state. Mzee Jomo Kenyatta was the first prime minister. On 26th May 1963, Kenya had its first elections and a new red, green, black and white flag was introduced. Exactly 12 months after independence, on 12 December 1964, Kenya became
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#1732793871830968-566: The Tour de Corse only beaten by Colin McRae's Subaru. In 1999, Renault won the title by seven points from Hyundai, but with only three teams left in the category (one of whom, Volkswagen, were not classified as they had not homologated their new Golf GTI Kit Car ), it was phased out at the end of the season. The class was eventually replaced by the Super 1600 -spec Junior World Rally Championship , and
1012-473: The UK ran concentration camps and "enclosed villages" in Kenya during the 1950s, where nearly the entire Kikuyu population was confined. Many thousands were tortured, murdered, or died from hunger and disease. The British government systematically destroyed almost all records of these crimes, burning them or dumping them at sea in weighted crates, and replaced them with fake files. However, Elkins's book later served as
1056-473: The UK. The Kenya Protectorate was established on 29th November 1920 when the territories of the former East Africa Protectorate which were not annexed by the UK were established as a British Protectorate. The Protectorate of Kenya was governed as part of the Colony of Kenya by virtue of an agreement between the United Kingdom and the Sultan dated 14 December 1895. In the 1920s, natives objected to
1100-570: The World Championship cars. To prove it was not a fluke Panizzi did the same on the Tour de Corse just weeks later with team mate François Delecour finishing fourth. This emphasised a split in W2L car production with the French manufacturers building tarmac specialised cars that could win outright at the cost of making them uncompetitive on gravel events. With several national championships in western Europe running all-tarmac series it became
1144-595: The World Championship. Two editions of the rally - 2007 and 2009 - were also part of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge . In 2013, President of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta announced a plan to return the Safari Rally to the world championship. On the 27 September 2019, it was announced that the 2020 edition would be part of the World Rally Championship. This event was later cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic . The Safari Rally eventually made
1188-682: The black native—the white Englishman spoke! A conservative Indian leader speaking in England after this decision said that if the Indian problem in South Africa were allowed to fester much longer it would pass beyond the bounds of domestic issue and would become a question of foreign policy upon which the unity of the Empire might founder irretrievably. The Empire could never keep its colored races within it by force, he said, but only by preserving and safeguarding their sentiments. The population in 1921
1232-646: The event was part of the world championship. Tundo won five editions when the event was part of the African Rally Championship - the 2004, 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2018 events. Tundo has also finished on the podium twelve times, ahead of fellow Kenyan Ian Duncan with nine podium finishes. Notes: IMC = International Championship for Manufacturers , WRC = World Rally Championship , 2LWC = 2-Litre World Cup , ARC = African Rally Championship , IRC = Intercontinental Rally Challenge , KRC = Kenya National Rally Championship The East African Safari Rally
1276-416: The event, with bullbars , snorkels (for river crossings) and bright lights to warn wildlife. In the 1990s, Toyota Team Europe had a full-time test team in Kenya, preparing and testing the rally cars for the event. During the rally, repairs had to be regularly made to the cars, which added to the elapsed time of the competitors. In later years, tyre mousse - allowing tyres to maintain functionality despite
1320-421: The fevers of the tropics and here England proposed to send her sick and impoverished soldiers of the war. Following the lead of South Africa, Britain took usurped five million acres of the best lands from the 3,000,000 native inhabitants, herded them towards the swamps giving them nothing as compensation, even there, no sure title; then by taxation the British forced sixty percent of the black adults into slavery for
1364-402: The first time in 1997 were Hyundai , with their Hyundai Coupe Kit Car , whilst Nissan entered a 1300cc Micra Kit Car and a 2000cc Almera GTI Kit Car , with Citroën and Peugeot entering the 1600cc Saxo Kit Car and 106 Maxi respectively. Gilles Panizzi caused a major upset when he finished third outright on the all-tarmac Rallye Catalunya in his Peugeot 306 Maxi, defeating all bar two of
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1408-473: The government was reformed to create a Council of Ministers as "the principal instrument of government". This council consisted of six official members from the civil service, two nominated members appointed by the governor, and six unofficial members appointed by the governor from among the members of the Legislative Council. Of the unofficial members, three were Europeans, two were Asian, and one
1452-578: The reservation of the White Highlands for Europeans, especially British war veterans. Bitterness grew between the natives and the Europeans. Describing the period in 1925, the African–American historian and Pan-Africanist W. E. B. Du Bois wrote in an article which would be incorporated into the pivotal Harlem Renaissance text The New Negro , Here was a land largely untainted by
1496-524: The series now renamed the FIA 2-Litre World Cup for Manufacturers , Skoda took the title with their Favorit model, despite it only being a 1300cc class car. The event wins were spread much more evenly than they had been the year before; Skoda, GME and Renault all won two events each, whilst Ford and Nissan won a single event. 1995 saw the series begin to take off with manufacturers building or upgrading their cars to Kit Car spec. Reigning champions Skoda replaced
1540-520: The ten thousand white owners for the lowest wage. Here was opportunity not simply for the great landholder and slave-driver but also for the small trader, and twenty-four thousand Indians came. These Indians claimed the rights of free subjects of the empire—a right to buy land, a right to exploit labor, a right to a voice in the government now confined to the handful of whites. Suddenly a great race conflict swept East Africa—orient and occident, white, brown and black, landlord, trader and landless serf. When
1584-597: The title by nine points, ahead of Renault in second place, with the latter company debuting their Renault Megane Maxi . Suzuki built a Baleno Kit Car , and entered it in the 1996 Rally Australia , without success, whilst Ford released an updated version of the Escort with the Escort Maxi Kit Car . In 1997, SEAT won the title by 70 points, ahead of Skoda in second place, with the latter company debuting their Skoda Octavia Kit Car . Also building kit cars for
1628-526: The winner's total time penalty was above 12 hours in 1996 and decreased to two seconds shy of 8 hours in 2002. Despite this, the rally continued to be run on open roads. The event was excluded from the WRC calendar due to a lack of finance and organisation in 2003. From the 2003 edition, the event became part of the African Rally Championship . The event was modernised, with shorter stages and running on closed roads - like other events in
1672-470: Was African. The Executive Council continued in existence with all the members of the Council of Ministers also being members of the Executive Council. In addition, the Executive Council also included one Arab and two appointed Africans. The full Executive council retained certain prerogatives, including approving death sentences and reviewing draft legislation. The Legislative Council in 1956 consisted of
1716-585: Was also used by government authorities against disobedient tribal chiefs, an example of this being the flogging of a Kikuyu chief by Colonel Algernon E. Capell after the latter was lied to by the former. FIA 2-Litre World Rally Cup The FIA 2-Litre World Rally Cup was a sub-section of the World Rally Championship from 1993 to 1999. It involved mostly 1,600 cc (97.6 cu in) or 2,000 cc (122.0 cu in), naturally aspirated , front wheel drive cars. The series
1760-586: Was discontinued due to high costs, and the new Super 2000 class was amalgamated into the Production World Rally Championship , whilst the 1600cc cars were generally modified for usage in the Super 1600 class, which formed the basis of the Junior World Rally Championship in 2001. The most successful manufacturer was SEAT , who won the title three times in a row with their SEAT Ibiza Kit Car. As
1804-430: Was estimated at 2,376,000, of whom 9,651 were Europeans, 22,822 Indians and 10,102 Arabs . Mombasa , the largest city in 1921, had a population of 32,000 at that time. The Mau Mau rebellion , that was a revolt against British colonial rule in Kenya, lasted from 1952 to 1960. The rebellion was marked by war crimes and massacres committed by both sides. Caroline Elkins's 2005 book, Britain's Gulag , uncovered that
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1848-455: Was historically one of the fastest events in the world championship with average speeds over 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph). However, the roughness of the terrain and the long stages meant that the winner was often the most reliable or the fastest cautious driver. In later years, top rally teams would use helicopters to fly ahead of the cars to warn of animals or other vehicles on the rally route. Teams built specially strengthened cars for
1892-577: Was part of the British Empire in Africa from 1920 until 1963. It was established when the former East Africa Protectorate was transformed into a British Crown colony in 1920. Technically, the "Colony of Kenya" referred to the interior lands, while a 16 km (10 mi) coastal strip, nominally on lease from the Sultan of Zanzibar , was the "Protectorate of Kenya", but the two were controlled as
1936-450: Was the primary legal punishment for many crimes used in colonial Kenya, particularly against young offenders. Though the metropolitan Colonial Office was sceptical of the use of such punishments, its unease did little to hinder their application by local authorities. Prisons were eschewed by most judges, due to the belief that it would erode the morality of convicts and consign them to a positive feedback loop of criminality. Corporal punishment
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