NAIROBI, Kenya, March 31 – Rally enthusiasts now have the chance to follow the twists and turns of the Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) Safari Rally from wherever they are.This has been made possible through security company Car Track who have introduced live streaming technology enabling fans to enjoy one of the world’s toughest motorsport events from their personal computers and laptops.
“We are excited to launch this innovative technology with support from our partners Galooli ltd that will now allow Kenyans to view the rally action in real-time at the touch of a button,” said Car Track managing director Andrew Saisi.
The rally that kicks off on Good Friday can now be followed by the public by logging onto the bank’s website www.kcbbankgroup.com.
Fans will download and installing a specific software accessed via the KCB address: www.the-zon.com/ZONControl, which is accessible from the KCB website.
“After installation of the software is completed, a login screen will pop-up prompting the user to enter his username ‘kcbrally’ and password – ‘kcb’ thereby automatically accessing the digitized rally route showing the rally cars in action”.
”The new technology will serve to enhance the safety of rallying crews, because every vehicle has been fitted with a transponder thus allowing them to send an ‘SOS’ alert to the control centre at the Rally Headquarters in case of an emergency”, added Saisi.
The rally can be viewed using the CarTrack system in real-time courtesy of iWay Africa, the official communications sponsor of the KCB Safari Rally 2010.
Former national champion Lee Rose will lead a record 71 drivers when the 1000km rally revs off from the KICC grounds at 1 pm on Friday from where they will head to Jamhuri Park for the spectator stage.
The races will start at 2.30 pm with cars racing alongside each other and against the clock before heading back to KICC for an overnight rest.
Thika will host the second day’s action with the cars going through Mbombo, Makuyu, Kirwara and Kimandi Church.
On the final day, the rally will storm through Kipeto, Kajiado, Maili Tisa and Timbucto before revisiting some of the stages again.