Kenya bids to keep Safari Rally on WRC calendar for five more years

Kenya has submitted a bid to keep the Safari Rally on the World Rally Championship (WRC) calendar for another five years, Sports Principal Secretary Elijah Mwangi said, according to Citizen Digital on 5 October. Mwangi said he understood Kenya had been considered for the next five years. He also said the calendar had been drawn and that Kenya would host the Safari Rally in March 2027. The WRC promoter has not yet released the 2027 calendar, The Star reported on 8 October.

Sports Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya held talks with the newly registered Motorsport Kenya Federation (MK-F) on the rally and wider motorsport development, The Star reported. "I held consultative discussions with the newly registered Motorsport Kenya Federation (MK-F) on preparations for the iconic WRC Safari Rally," Mvurya said. The paper's headline said the government and the federation were confident the Safari would keep its 2027 slot. Mvurya said the government was committed to "building a strong and sustainable motorsport ecosystem, from grassroots talent identification and development to strengthening Kenya's competitiveness at the highest levels of international motorsport".

Safari Rally chief executive Carl Tundo said developing the sport from the grassroots would be critical to producing a new generation of Kenyan rally drivers, The Star reported.

The Star said Rally Scotland is set to join the 2027 championship, a US event awaits final confirmation and Portugal has been dropped from the proposed calendar. Citizen Digital reported on 30 September that Rally de Portugal will not feature in the 2027 championship. The Automobile Club of Portugal said the Vodafone Rally of Portugal "was one of the events whose scheduling was affected". It said it had already held first talks with the WRC promoter on a possible return in 2028.

The FIA announced on 16 March 2026 that the WRC will return to the United Kingdom in 2027 with a gravel event based in Aberdeen, under an initial three-year agreement. The FIA said a Candidate Event would be held later in the year and that the event would then be submitted to the FIA World Motor Sport Council for approval. Autosport reported on 14 August that an FIA delegation had completed its assessment of the Rally Scotland candidate event in Aberdeen.

Citizen Digital reported on 31 July 2025 that Kenya's original five-year WRC contract had been extended by one more year, making 2026 a potentially decisive year for the rally's future in the country. The 2026 Safari Rally was held from 12 to 15 March as the third round of the season, after Monte Carlo and Sweden.

President William Ruto said on 15 March, as quoted by DirtFish: "This is the last Safari Rally where we will be spending public money to promote [the event]. From next year, this event will be fully funded and supported by the private sector."

Mwangi said the government wants to widen private-sector involvement through a special-purpose vehicle, Citizen Digital reported. "We will have a special-purpose vehicle where the many sponsors from the private sector will come together," he said. At the 2026 rally, he said, "the private sector came on board and supplemented what the government was giving us".