With the Safari Rally round of FIA World Rally Championship set to make its return to the 2020 calendar, four rally drivers from Uganda were keen on to give the big boys a run for their money, but their hopes were smashed due to the current Coronavirus pandemic.
Alwi Hassan, Yasin Nasser, Duncan Mubiru and Christakis Fitidis were looking to enter the WRC class at the Kenya Safari Rally, originally scheduled to be held 16-19 July this year, but was postponed.
Hassan is one of the front-runners in the Ugandan Rally Championship, and has won many rallies in a Group N spec Subaru Impreza STi N14. Nasser and Mubiru are not so far away from the pace of Hassan, with both having won rallies in the championship.
Cyprus born Fitidis started with local rallies in Africa in 2000 after moving there, and since then has been very active in championships throughout the continent. Currently driving under the Ugandan flag, he has only one win in his portfolio from 2016.
The rally was held for first time in 1953 and have seen then becoming popular for the endurance in off-roading, where purpose built rally cars would tackle the harsh stages and the hot envoirement.
The National Motorsport Authories in Kenya and FIA are now currently working on to find new dates for the rally that would make a return for first-time in eighteen years.
