It was an honour to cover the return of the Safari Rally to the WRC circuit as part of a team of Kenyan photographers who contributed to the rally’s photo pool. These are my favourite shots from what I captured.

Other photographers who formed part of the team were Alvin Kibet, Simon Mulumba, Nelson Jeremy, Sila Kiplagat, Joseph Mburu and Kevin Gitimu.

Preparation

On Tuesday 22nd June, we recced the designated photo points at Loldia Shakedown, Malewa, Chui Lodge and Oserian to give us a good idea of the photography possibilities at each stage. To make sure all stages were covered each day, we balloted who would cover which stage.

If a photographer felt they wanted a different stage from what they had picked, they were free to switch with the photographer who got what they were eager to get.

At the Media Centre in Naivasha, Canon brought bodies and lenses to hire out for free to any photographer who wanted a better lens or camera to make sure we were using the best to bring out our best. They also offered free check and clean for our cameras and lenses at the end of each day which was necessary to keep our gear in perfect working condition.

Loldia Shakedown

Held on Loldia Farm that overlooks Lake Naivasha, this was an opportunity for drivers to have a feel of what to expect as they raced the clock and battled the Kenyan terrain, and for we photographers to get into the rhythm of the rally.

I sought to capture not only the cars, but the beauty of the Kenyan landscape that the WRC hadn’t experienced for 19 years.

Notice the Elinchrome at the right of the image? That’s part of Jaanus Ree’s setup. He travels the world shooting rally cars.

How to get a drone shot without a drone – Jaanus Ree style.

KICC Flag Off

I recall attending one of the Safari Rally flag offs at KICC in the 1980s with my dad. We were positioned somewhere along City Hall Way. We didn’t see much of the cars but hear them we did.

Fast forward to 2021, on Thursday 24th June, we left our hotel in Naivasha a little late and got caught in the Uhuru Highway traffic on our way to KICC.

Hundreds of Kenyans lined City Hall Way to catch a glimpse of the cars heading for the flag off.

At KICC, all was set for the Safari Rally patron, H E Uhuru Kenyatta to arrive and conduct the ceremonial flag off.

Before the flag off, a Safe and Affordable Helmet Programme was launched by Uhuru Kenyatta, FIA President Jean Todt and Sports CS Ambassador Amina Mohammed.

After a 19-year wait, the WRC Safari Rally was back!

At the tender age of 91, Sobieslaw Zasada became the oldest competitor to start a WRC event in history! He last participated in the 1997 Safari Rally with his wife Ewa in a Mitsubishi Lancer where they finished 12th. Zasada’s best Safari Rally finish came in 1972 when he was placed second behind Hannu Mikkola.

Work took an extended break as people followed the action at KICC from their office windows.

The Solbergs love climbing on cars and waving at the fans.

The blue skies finally revealed themselves in the afternoon.

From KICC, it was back to Naivasha in readiness for the rally proper.

Chui Lodge Stage – SS2 & SS5

On Friday, Alvin Kibet and I were paired to cover the Chui Lodge Stage which had narrow roads, flatouts and hairpins.

Alvin and I got there before sun up and set up two hours before the first cars came through. We then waited and the cars came towards us, fast and furious.

I hadn’t planned to frame the chopper in this shot, my first of the day. A split second decision saw me switch the camera to vertical mode and I was able to capture both car and chopper in one frame.

Rally car with helicopter shot… check!

The hill at the back isn’t Longonot by the way. Do you know it’s name?

The morning light was quite dramatic and warm, adding a beautiful contrast to the early shots.

For the afternoon run of the same stage, Alvin and I moved further in for a different perspective.

Not sure but I think this is a view of the Oserian Farm from Chui Lodge.

Partner in dust Alvin Kibet.

I placed my camera on a fully extended tripod at a dusty bend and remotely triggered it as the cars came round the corner. That is me in a red mask in the middle left-ish of the photo.

Selfie with speeding rally car… check!

For safety, photographers stand on the inside of a corner so that if a car misses its braking point, it will miss you as well.

The fesh fesh proved a bit much for McRae Kimathi and Mwangi Kioni’s Fiesta, blocking the radiator’s air intake causing the car to over heat.

Several cars stalled in the fesh fesh and the stage was cancelled.

Did someone say free check and clean?

Corona doesn’t stand a chance!

Elementaita Stage – SS8 & SS11

For Saturday, I started the day capturing some shots of Lake Elementaita’s unique beauty.

I later moved to a different section where I could frame the Sleeping Warrior, Lake Elementaita, flamingoes and a rally car in one shot.

At the same spot was Reinhard Klein who had gotten there early with the same shot in mind.

With the flamingoes perfectly positioned in the calm Elementaita waters, the oh so sweet morning light and the Sleeping Warrior in full view, all we had to do now was wait for the first rally car to complete the perfect picture.

This metal bird being used by the WRC TV crew had other ideas though. It flew low, just a few metres above the water, and scared the flamingoes away, ruining a shot that we had waited very patiently for.

I still managed to create some good imagery with fewer flamingoes than expected.

Sleeping Warrior, Lake Elementaita, flamingoes in flight and rally car shot… check!

After about a dozen or so cars had dusted by, I changed my position and set up the camera for some remote triggering at a jump near the Sleeping Warrior view shot location.

Before heading to a different section for the afternoon run of SS11, I captured some flamingo shots using a 400mm f/2.8L that Canon had lent me for the day.

This one is from a little earlier but it is definitely worth another share.

In the afternoon, I was at a place where I could see the cars speed towards me with Lake Elementaita in the background, beat a corner then zoom away leaving me eating dust salad.

An unofficial spectator zone started forming as fans found a way into the section, so the safety marshals got in formation to keep everyone safe.

The speed at which the WRC cars ate this straight made me wonder if the drivers knew there was a sharp right coming up.

They braked late, threw their cars round the bend a few inches from the acacia, and left us covered us in a cloud of amazement dust.

Clouds of dust meet clouds of rain.

This shot of Carl Tundo beating the same corner is one of my favourites from the stage : the dust formation, the repair work on the font bumper, and the unintentional crop because I was fully zoomed in at 600mm and didn’t have time to zoom out and recompose the shot because of the speed at which Carl was moving.

As we left the Elementaita Stage heading back to our hotel in Naivasha, we found ourselves at the finish line of the Sleeping Warrior Stage and I captured some of the action.

Hell’s Gate Stage – SS15 & SS18

On Sunday morning after just two hours of sleep, Sila Kiplagat, Joseph Mburu and I we were at Hell’s Gate by 4am ready to capture the day’s action.

A decision was made to shorten SS15 because one of the competitive sections was deemed not capable of handling two runs of the road-chewing Pirellis.

I positioned myself on a cliff to see the cars zooming below me. I wasn’t happy with the results. I wish the cloud cover wasn’t as heavy or I had panned to make the shots more interesting. I don’t feel there’s anything special about these shots.

The afternoon Wolf Power Stage – SS18 – made up for the dull morning run. The clouds parted for the sun to shine, fesh fesh was plenty and as for the action… Well, here is some of it.

Rally car with helicopter shot… Check! Check! Check!

The fesh fesh became too much for the Fiestas. McRae Kimathi and Mwangi Kioni were the first victims.

Some mad driving skills from Rio Smith navigated by Laban Cliff saw them power their 2WD Ford through the fesh fesh, leaving all of us coughing in dust but cheering in jubilation.

Second Ford out and sad moment of the Wolf Power Stage was when suspension problems forced Sobieslaw Zasada and Tomasz Boryslawski to retire, less than 2kms from the finish line.

Still, hats off to Sobieslaw for an amazing run.

I pat myself on the back for taking shot of McRae Kimathi walking toward a stranded Sobieslaw Zasada.

Favourite shot of the day… check!

More drivers made it through the fesh fesh, I guess because of their cars’ had better ground clearance, earning them the unquantifiable glory of completing the world’s toughest rally.

Special thanks to Joseph Mburu who took this shot of a Subaru driver about to eat dust from a Vitz.

Thanks for coming to the end of the blog post. I hope you enjoyed the ride as much as I did.