NAIROBI, March 16 (Xinhua) -- A three-day Safari Rally kicked off in Nairobi on Friday with 35 drivers taking part in the grueling competition that will be run mostly in central Kenya.
The 66th edition of the rally, which covers 581km, will also double up as the African Rally Championship, of which 221km will be a competitive stage.
First off the ramp was defending Kenya and Africa champion, Jaspreet Chatthe navigated by James Morgan in a Mitsubishi Evolution 10. He was followed by the current leader of the Kenya National Rally Championship Onkar Rai, co-driven by Gareth Dawe in a Skoda Fabia R5 car.
The event originated in 1953 as the Coronation Safari Rally and was the first sporting event in Africa to be broadcast 'live' on radio. With time, it became the East African Safari Rally and was considered one of the best rallies in the world until it lost its international status in 2002.
Oliver Ciesla, the Managing Director of the World Rally Championship told the rally organizers to strive to make the rally unique in order to attract world status.
Ciesla said each motorsport event that has attained world rally status has a unique aspect to it that appeals to the world governing body, Federation Internationale de I' Automobile (FIA).
"There ought to be something unique that the rally offers. If it is not snow, it is the iconic terrain or some exceptional attraction that the other event does not offer."
The rally lost the much-coveted international standing in 2002 after government funding dried up and the organizer's failed to adhere to FIA guidelines on spectator safety.
However, the organizers of this year's rally are using the event as a dress rehearsal to impress the global governing body.
Jean Todt, the President of FIA visited Nairobi recently and said that in Kenya and world-wide, there was an expression of great desire to have the Safari back on the WRC calendar.
Phineas Kimathi, the CEO of the WRC Safari Rally Project, said the event has passed the 50 percent mark in its aspiration to regain its previous status. "The drivers are well prepared and it is all systems go," he said.
