It was first held from 27 May to 1 June 1953 as the
East African Coronation Safari in
Kenya,
Uganda and
Tanganyika, as a celebration of the
coronation of
Queen Elizabeth II. In 1960 it was renamed the
East African Safari Rally and kept that name until 1974, when it became the Safari Rally. From 1973, the rally was part of the World Rally Championship. The route featured a variety of roads and terrain - from
fesh fesh (very fine powdered sand), fast farm tracks, and very rough roads up or down the
Great Rift Valley. In heavy rain, roads would often turn into thick, deep mud. The event was run on open roads, with all of the route being competitive mileage. The driver with the lowest accumulation of penalty time between time controls was declared the winner. However, the roughness of the terrain and the long stages meant that the winner was often the most reliable or the fastest cautious driver. In later years, top rally teams would use
helicopters to fly ahead of the cars to warn of animals or other vehicles on the rally route. Teams built specially strengthened cars for the event, with
bullbars,
snorkels (for river crossings) and bright lights to warn wildlife. In the 1990s,
Toyota Team Europe had a full-time test team in Kenya, preparing and testing the rally cars for the event. In later years,
tyre mousse - allowing tyres to maintain functionality despite a
puncture - allowed drivers to tackle the event flat out, despite the length of the event. The event was excluded from the WRC calendar due to a lack of finance and organisation in 2003. Two editions of the rally - 2007 and 2009 - were also part of the
Intercontinental Rally Challenge. In 2013,
President of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta announced a plan to return the Safari Rally to the world championship. On the 27 September 2019, it was announced that the 2020 edition would be part of the World Rally Championship. This event was later cancelled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. Sebastian Ogier and Julien Ingrassia emerged as winners in their Toyota Yaris WRC. The Safari has a WRC contract until 2026. ==Winners==