As the World Rally Championship (WRC) continues in other countries, Kenya is eagerly awaiting its turn to host the most anticipated event of the year from March 28th to 31st, 2024, during the Easter holidays.
This events usually earns a lot of revenue and global exposure to the host country, with over 80 million viewers on social media. This year, The Toyota Company has added more excitement by giving a special edition GR Yaris to its top drivers.
These drivers have won the Driver’s Championship at the highest level of the WRC for the past five years: Estonian Ott Tanak in 2019, Frenchman Sebastien Ogier in 2020 and 2021, and Finn Kalle Rovanpera in 2022 and 2023. To celebrate their achievements, Toyota created two special editions of the GR Yaris in the Japanese-market RZ High Performance trim, one tuned by Ogier and the other by Rovanpera.This move is set to improve Toyota’s performance in the WRC worldwide rallys.
The new models replaces the previous Yaris RZ with two driving modes, a swan-neck rear wing in carbon fiber, red brake calipers behind 18-inch BBS wheels, and an exclusive Kalle mode that gets a revamped rear differential.
The race is expected to be flagged off at KICC on March 28th before heading to Kasarani Stadium in Nairobi for the super special stage (SSS). Hells Gate had previously coincided with the WRC TV Live program to award the podium finishers after the Power Stage, with the prize-giving proper being held at Kenya Wildlife Service Training Institute (KWSTI) in Naivasha.
This time, the 2024 WRC Kenya is expected to be hotter than the previous ones as we expect to hear the roar of the turbo engines in the savannah highlands of Kenya.Other countries which are yet to host the rally before and after Kenya include :
1. January 25–28
Rallye Monte Carlo,
Monaco
2. February 15–18
Rally Sweden
Umea
3. March 28–31
Safari Rally Kenya
Nairobi & Naivasha
4. April 18–21
Rally Croatia
Zagreb
5. May 9–12
Rally de Portugal
Matosinhos
6. May 30 – June 2
Rally Italia Sardegna
Alghero
7. June 27–30
Rally Poland
Mikolajki
8. July 18–21
Rally Latvia
Liepāja
9. August 1–4
Rally Finland
Jyväskylä
10. September 5–8
Acropolis Rally Greece
Athens
11. September 26–29
Rally Chile
Concepcíon
12. October 31 – November 3
Central Europe Rally
Passau
13. November 21–24
Rally Japan
Nagoya