Quote Originally Posted by scn View Post
https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/is-20...s-robert-reid/

I am afraid Nicky Grist is right. Route is very short and the recce videos show it rather soft. Maybe FIA should examine some change in the distance limits for certain rallies, like Safari and Acropolis. A rally championship without some truly endurance events is lacking a certain aspect of the sport.
The Safari was the WRC's equivalent of other iconic motorsport events; Indy 500, Le Mans 24 Hours......

They still run as intended; and both are completely different from the other races in the series.

The Indy 500 is all about May; the only change is the addition of a road course race at the beginning of May before practice, and qualifying for the 500.
Le Mans has a test day about 2 weeks before; then on the Sunday/Monday before the race is the scrutineering in the town square. Wednesday/ Thursday afternoon/evening sees practice and qualifying. Followed by a press & media day on the Friday. And then the race twice round the clock on Saturday & Sunday.

The thought of changing them, and making them suitable for modern audiences would be a huge error. It simply won't happen. Alas, rallying has done just that; trashing it's historic/iconic events, so we get identikit events. Cutting costs, and making them easy for TV/media to sell is the reason we're constantly told. Fine......but don't complain when the sport isn't offering any value to sponsors, manufacturers, etc

Drop the Safari name, and call it Rally Kenya; I'm sure it will be a good event, and hopefully provides an element of surprise to competitors.