The first professional motor sport in Kenya, the East African Coronation Safari was organized in celebration of Queen Elizabeth II’S Coronation on June 2, 1953. The annual rally was renamed the East African Safari Rally from 1954 to 1975 and the Safari Rally from 1975 to date. The 13-stage Safari Rally was included in the inaugural FIA organizedWorld Rally Championship (WRC) as the fourth round of the 13 rounds that comprised the rally season in 1973.Ian Duncan is the only Kenyan to ever win a WRC round, the Safari Rally in 1994.
The African Rally Championship (ARC) is a regional body of FIA and runs an annual rally season with eight rounds in eight different countries Zimbabwe,South Africa Zambia Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Madagascar from March to November, except in October. The Safari Rally was acknowledged as one of the toughest rallies in the world. The Kenyan legend,Shekhar Mehta/Nissan won the ARC inaugural season (1981) while Davis Horsey/Peugeot was the last Kenyan to win ARC in 1984.
Locally, the Kenya National Rally Champion is selected from the points accumulated in several KCB sponsored rounds. Ian Duncan is the 2011 KNR Champion.Patrick Njiru/David Williamson was the first African driver to win the Kenya National Rally Championship. He raced competitively last in 2002 before retiring from competitive racing. Njiru however continued to organize and participate in charity races. Ian Duncan is the most successful rally drivers in Kenya that continues to feature in various motor races to date. His achievements is as follows: 1) The only Kenyan to win a WRC round (the 42nd Trust Bank Safari Rally, 1994), 2) He has won Kenyan Rally Championship six times (1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 2000, and 2011), 3) He won the East African Classic Safari in 2009 (racing in the same race in November, 2011), 4) He has won Guru Nanak Rally Championship 11 times, and 5) He won the Motorsport personality of the year 2010!
Prominent Kenyan-born legend drivers at the WRC series:Joginder Singh (1973–1980),Shekhar Mehta (1973–1987), Patrick Njiru(1983–1998), and Ian Duncan (1983–1999).
Other significant rally drivers in Kenya today: Carl Tundo, Azar Anwar, Lee Rose, Jas Mangat and Ben Muchemi
Some of the KNRC two-wheel drivers: James Kirimi, Patrick Kibara, Joe Muchiri, Adnan Suhail, and Niaz Bashir.