There are traditions that deserve to be respected. Even if it will remain far from the extremes that it was able to reach in the 70s and 80s, the Safari Rally is already shaping up to be the longest meeting on the 2025 calendar. With its 21 special stages and its 384.86 km timed, the 73e edition will appear as an exception in a program where the organizers tend to want to reduce their itinerary. Located near Lake Naivasha located less than a hundred kilometers north of the capital Nairobi, the event will be integrated for the 5e consecutive times in the championship after a period of absence of 18 years (2002 to 2021).
The Kenyans kept what worked in previous years with a Wednesday shakedown when it usually takes place on Thursday everywhere else. Its location will however be different since instead of going towards Loldia to the northwest of the service park, the competitors will go south to the Sleeping Warrior sector. Thursday will traditionally be devoted to the starting ceremony which is always very formal in Nairobi before the now well-known superspecial of Kasarani (4.76 km) at the gates of the city where the public is more numerous each year. The first new feature of 2025 will be the addition of a 2e section on Thursday returning to the Naivasha service park. With its 8.15 km, the Mzabibu ES will allow competitors to have a very small glimpse of what awaits them.
The rest will be quite classic with sectors which have already been used in previous years: Loldia (19.11 km), Geothermal (13.12 km) or Kedong (15.10 km). Will they be as selective as in the past? Will Elmenteita (17.31 km) or Soysambu (29.32 km) be watered by storms as sudden as they are violent? To spice up the menu even further, the organizers have introduced a new 32.20 km special. Raced twice, Camp Moran (SS3-7) will launch the loops on Friday and it could well prove decisive.
First test of the season on dirt, Kenya should not establish a hierarchy on this surface, because the exercise is far too specific. After 4 consecutive successes for Toyota, will the Hyundai team be able to contradict Japanese hegemony in this event?
