NAIROBI, Kenya, December 28, 2025 – Kenyan rally drivers have been urged to invest in homologated cars ahead of next year’s WRC Safari Rally.
WRC Safari Rally CEO Charles Gacheru says the homologated cars will enhance the competitiveness of the local drivers in the global event.
“We want to encourage East Africans…Kenyans to enter the Safari Rally. Entry is free into the Safari Rally and they can obviously enter in the national class, which
means they enter with cars which are essentially non-homologated. However, we would like to encourage them to find homologated cars,” he said.
Gacheru added: “We want them to enter and be able to compete so that even when they come and do a corner, people can cheer…so that we’re just not cheering guys coming in from Japan or England or somewhere else. That our own Kenyans are in machines that we’ll want to take a selfie with.”
He, however, acknowledged that homologated cars are an expensive investment, calling on more corporates to support local drivers and make their dreams a reality.
“Karan Patel runs in a homologated car and Nikhil (Sachania) runs in a homologated car. However, those cars are expensive to buy and to maintain. So our local drivers do need support and would like to appeal to well-wishers to really support our locals,” Gacheru noted.
The CEO further lamented over the absence of a national championships to provide drivers with regular competitive opportunities.
He expressed optimism that wrangles bedevilling the Kenya Motorsports Federation (KMSF) and Motorsports Kenya will be resolved in good time.
“The other thing is that the issues of the federations have not helped us. If we don’t
have a national series running, that means that our drivers themselves don’t have home advantage because they’ve not been competing,” Gacheru said.
Nonetheless, Gacheru urged as many local drivers to participate in next year’s Safari Rally, including those from other East African countries.
“We’ll be running WRC and also the first leg of the Africa Rally Championship. What we’d like to see as far as the local component is concerned is to see as many Kenyans, and I think when we speak about locals, we need to speak East African. So we want to see as many East Africans in the Safari Rally competing in homologated cars,” he explained.
Next year’s Safari Rally is scheduled for March 12-15 in Naivasha, the first time since its return to the WRC calendar that the competition will be held entirely in Nakuru county – unlike previous editions which have included Nairobi.
Competition proper revs off on Thursday (March 12) with the shakedown in Nawisa before four days of bruising battle among man, machine and the vagaries of nature.
