Kenya’s Safari Rally will be held next year from June 24-27, the FIA World Rally Championship organisers announced on Friday.
The Safari Rally and the Japan event, which were both included in this year’s FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) schedule but cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, have all been listed in the 2021 calendar.
This comes as Kenya’s Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed was also elected to the World Motor Sport Council, a key governance organ of the International Automobile Federation (FIA).
The vote was conducted at the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council meeting held on Friday.
FIA President Jean Todt said Amina’s appointment was important for the FIA’s drive for gender equality.
The cancellation of this year’s Safari Rally, one of global motorsport’s legendary contests, means the WRC returns to Africa for the first time since 2002 next year.
Estonia is also included in the 12-round series after being called-up at short notice to host a widely-praised post-lockdown restart event in September. It was the Baltic state’s first WRC appearance in 2020.
Spain also returns to the Championship after a year’s absence.
The 2021 season will feature nine European events and three outside Europe. Next year’s WRC has been strategically designed to allow for a continued Covid-19 impact on international sport by scheduling the majority of rounds from June onwards.
The calendar was approved by the FIA, world motorsport’s governing body, and WRC Promoter managing director Jona Siebel said it would appeal to both competitors and WRC fans alike.
“The inclusion of Croatia to the WRC for the first time is an exciting new challenge to our fixture list and brings huge anticipation,” he added.
2021 WRC CALENDAR
Monte-Carlo 21 – 24 January
Sweden 11 – 14 February
Croatia 22 – 25 April*
Portugal 20 – 23 May
Italy 3 – 6 June
Kenya 24 – 27 June
Estonia 15 – 18 July*
Finland 29 July – 1 August
UK 19 – 22 August*
Chile 9 – 12 September
Spain 14 – 17 October
Japan 11 – 14 November
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