The World Rally Championship (WRC) has expressed its willingness to extend its partnership with Safari Rally Kenya and negotiations on a new long-term contract are currently underway.

Simon Larkin, the WRC Promoter GmbH Event Director, announced they had also spoken to a number of leading Kenyan companies to expand their involvement in the event. This is the only African round in the WRC Calendar.

The present deal for the Safari Rally ends in 2026 but afterwards the Promoter and government agreed a one-year extension to the initial five year contract that started in 2021.

Cabinet Secretary for Youth Affairs, Creative Economy and Sports Salim Mvurya announced the government was pitching to retain the Safari Rally as part of the global circuit when the existing contract expires next year.

“This is something we have been working on with President William Ruto and the Cabinet Secretary for a while now. We have had a fairly long commitment up until now and we have a contract for 2026,”he said.

The Event Director revealed that negotiations with Kenya to renew the contract with Safari Rally started after last year’s edition, the fourth since it returned to the WRC in 2021 after a 19-year absence.

“Obviously there is little doubt about extension but we have a history with Safari Rally Kenya of making sure that we have a renewal early. We see a long term commitment here in Kenya,” Larkin offered.

“We think it’s the best way for the event to grow. We think it’s the best way for the government to try to reduce its financial burden of the event. Because we hear it from some of the biggest companies here, that there is a huge ready commitment for them to step up and invest more heavily in the event,” stated Larkin.

The WRC Promoter has already engaged existing local corporate partners to the Safari Rally including integrated telecommunications service provider, Safaricom, Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) and Kenya Airways among others.

“We think that the already existing commercial partners can be better leveraged with the right commercial structure,” said the event director.

Larkin, highlighted that the WRC Safari Rally could be an important tool for integration going forward and something worth pursuing in the next contract.

“I mean it was our most watched WRC event last year with over 150 million viewers. We just need to make sure that the event keeps evolving and growing. We want it going forward to have a regional and continental impact.”