Another surprise change is the moving of the Safari Rally from its traditional July slot to September.
The world famous event will be held on the weekend of September 12-14 and will still count towards the seventh and penultimate round of the FIA African Rally Championship (ARC) series which revs off with Rallye Bandama of Cote D’Ivoire between March 1 and 2.
Other countries in which the ARC will crisscross are Tanzania, Zambia, South Africa (Sasol Rally), Rwanda (Mountain Gorilla Rally) and Madagascar Rally which folds the curtains to the eight-leg ARC series.
Jassy Singh is the man to beat this year after claiming the ARC crown last season becoming the youngest driver to win the title.
The 20-year-old scooped the title after finishing sixth overall at the final round of the continental championship held in Madagascar last weekend.
Navigated by veteran Dave Sihoka, Jassy outraced his Ugandan counterpart Jas Mangat who crashed out of the race.
His father Muna, grandfather Satwant and 2012 champion Mohammed Essa have all bagged the ARC crown for Zimbabwe.
KNRC Preparations
Drivers are busy preparing their cars ahead of another gruelling eight rounds as the number of top-of-the-range cars continues to grow on the local circuit.
Manvir Baryan, a KNRC Division 2 driver, has been linked to a Proton S2000 vehicle, but has been coy about it.
Baryan, who finished in the top 10 during the KQ Safari Classic Rally, says he will stick to the same N16 vehicle he used in 2013.
Super 2000, also known as S2000, is an FIA specification and classification for production-based race cars. The specification is split to cover both rally and touring car racing.
