The Safari Kenya Rally, third of the season and first on dirt, returns to its traditional date at the end of March. A novelty which alone is enough to make a rally already full of unknowns even less predictable, due to the greater risk of rain, which last year was the protagonist of the weekend. At the moment, however, the weather forecasts seem to avoid the most alarmist hypotheses: rainfall is expected mostly in the afternoon and in less copious quantities than feared. The soft compound Discovery KX WRC SA tyres, named first for this race and in fact the only specification used by all the drivers in the two previous editions, will once again ensure robustness and reliability for the drivers.
The risks of the African race are now well known: slippery surfaces although rocky, bumpy and with deep ruts, which focus more on resistance than on the performance of both the cars and the tyres. Don't underestimate the “fesh fesh”, i.e. the very fine sand in which cars can easily sink. The dangers deriving from the road surface become more insidious in case of rain: the precipitation can, in fact, make the roads even more slippery and muddy and expose the rocks more, increasing the risk of bogging down and collisions, as well as leading to a reduction of the grip.
Rally Safari: the tires chosen by Pirelli and the allocation
Even in the worst case scenario, the soft compound Scorpion KX RWC SA tires are the most suitable as they are designed to ensure grip even in the most slippery conditions and on wet terrain, in a balance between performance and resistance already proven in other races. The hard compound Scorpion KX WRC HA are the options and are suitable for the most abrasive surfaces and for longer trials.
The regulation provides for an allocation of 28 and 8 tires respectively for the prime and option. The option tires can be up to 12 chosen by the crew, but reducing the first ones by 4.
Regarding the other categories, in Kenya the Rally2 will have Scorpion K6B (soft) and K4B (hard) tires available, while the Rally3 will have the K6A (soft) and K4A (hard) available. For these car categories, the allocations are 26 and 8 tires for the prime and option respectively. The latter can reach 12 chosen by the crew, but reducing the former by 4.
Rally Safari: the comment by Terenzio Testoni
Terenzio Testoni, Pirelli rally activity manager, comments on the Safari Rally, the third event of the 2024 WRC season, which will once again be held in March, exactly as it happened several years ago.
Terenzio Testoni, Pirelli Rally activity manager: “The Scorpion SAs have shown great versatility in recent years in Kenya and other rallies. They are designed to ensure grip and impact resistance at the same time and have a structure that is not too soft, which would not resist the severity of the tests, nor too rigid, which would damage the suspensions. What matters is that the drivers face the Safari Rally for what it has always been: an endurance race and not a speed race, unlike any other contemporary rally”.
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