By AYUMBA AYODIMore by this AuthorKenya Motor Sport Federation (KMSF) chairman Phineas Kimathi was last weekend appointed to an important commission of the International Automobile Federation (FIA). Kimathi, a restaurateur and former rally driver, will serve in FIA’s 17-member World Rally Championship Commission headed by Asia, Caribbean and Pacific rallying boss, Portugal’s Carlos Barbosa, assisted by Finnish rallying great Timo Rautianen, and will handle the interests of Africa and the Middle East. The appointment at FIA’s meeting in Geneva last Friday comes hot on the heels of the annual FIA Congress held in Sun City, South Africa, where Kenya’s Safari Rally’s bid to make a comeback into the World Rally Championships’ annual calendar received tremendous support from key industry players. Kimathi’s presence in the FIA’s World Rally Championship Commission will help further argue Kenya’s case for the return on the Safari Rally onto the global circuit after this year’s candidate rally to be run from July 5 to 7 around Nairobi, Nakuru and Kiambu counties. A positive word by FIA officials Michelle Mouton, Iain Campbell and Jarno Lehtinen, who recently visited Kenya on fact-finding and inspection missions, will further help catapult the Safari back onto the global circuit.

Source: Daily Nation May 21, 2019 03:00 UTC