WRC Drivers Stage Protests At Safari Rally Over Newly-Imposed Rule
During Wednesday’s shakedown at Sleeping Warrior near Lake Elementaita in Nakuru County, drivers either declined to comment or responded in their native languages to avoid addressing questions during stage-end interviews.
Marvin Chege 
A media storm on Wednesday, March 19 stole the spotlight ahead of the 2025 Safari Rally in Kenya after drivers refused to give stage-end interviews, a notable shift spotted for those who watched the shakedown in the morning.
Ahead of the official ceremonial start in Nairobi, drivers stood in solidarity with Hyundai driver Adrien Fourmaux, who was fined Ksh1.4 million (€10,000) as well as a suspended Ksh2.4million (€20,000) fine for swearing during a television interview at the conclusion of Rally Sweden in February; he dropped the F-word.
Fourmaux was deemed to have breached Article 12.2.1.l of the 2025 FIA International Sporting Code which covers the use of “inappropriate language” after saying “we f***ed up yesterday” during an interview when referring to a messy start to stage 11.
The Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the world's premier motorsport governing body, moved to impose new rules to crack down on swearing words/inappropriate language in interviews. However, the drivers through their newly-formed body called the World Rally Drivers’ Alliance (WoRDA) have opposed them.
WRC drivers line up with the competition cars ahead of the 2025 season. /HANKOOK
In a statement as reported by DirtFish, WoRDA wrote "We all agree to keep rudeness at the microphone to a minimum. At the same time, it is necessary to maintain a certain freedom of expression and to keep emotions alive while drivers don't need to be afraid of getting punished in any way."
The alliance revealed that it had pleaded with the President of the FIA for some positive changes in the rules to help them achieve this goal, a meeting that did not take place, leading to the protests in the form of boycotting the interviews.
During Wednesday’s shakedown at Sleeping Warrior near Lake Elementaita in Nakuru County, drivers either declined to comment or responded in their native languages to avoid addressing questions during stage-end interviews. This approach is expected to persist for the remainder of the event, which concludes on Sunday, March 23.
Fourmaux and Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta were among the drivers who chose to stay silent when reporters asked questions following the first shakedown run. "Unfortunately you guys don’t hear from me so much this weekend, but if that’s what we need to do to make a difference, we will do it," said Toyota's Kalle Rovanpera who is a two-time Safari Rally champion.
"For the reasons explained in our statement, it is impossible for us to guarantee that we (Drivers and Co-drivers) will be able to follow these rules perfectly and systematically," the statement by WoRDA added.
"This is why we - WORDA Members - are now taking the responsible decision to remain silent at the end of the interviews or to answer in our mother tongue. In the interest of our sport, such action is unfortunately needed, and we apologize to all the rally fans, even though we know they support us in this."
FIA in response confirmed it will open dialogue with the alliance, with a spokesperson revealing to DirtFish that “The FIA, as with many other international sports governing bodies, maintains a code of conduct that sets out what we expect from drivers and their teams. Drivers are looked up to as role models by young fans and are ambassadors for motorsport across the world.
“How drivers act at events really matters. The code’s purpose is to promote the best in sportsmanship and respect, this includes expectations around language which could be seen as offensive or inappropriate by the public. The rules and penalties are in line with those taken by our peer organisations in global sports championships.
The spokesperson recognized that it was crucial to assess situations on a case-by-case basis, but affirmed that unnecessary profanity should not be condoned and "does little to help promote and grow the sport with fans, sponsors, and partners."
“In line with a similar meeting held with Formula 1 drivers in Melbourne last weekend, Ronan Morgan, president of the Drivers Committee along with Petter Solberg, vice president of the Committee and Emilia Abel, junior road sports director are planning to discuss this matter and other topics with drivers after the Safari Rally Kenya," added the spokesperson.
Meanwhile, Rovanpera emerged quickest in the 5.16km Sleeping Warrior stage at 4:34.5, enhancing his bid to retain the Safari Rally title. Following him in second was reigning WRC champion Thierry Neuville (4:36.1) of Hyundai in the cutthroat duel watched by hundreds of Kenyans who have already descended to the lakeside town of Naivasha and locations near Nakuru City to have a glimpse of the global motorsports spectacle.
Rovanpera indicated that the victory was a great morale booster to him and the Toyota team who are aiming to win the Safari Rally for the fourth year in a row. “This is one of those rallies where pace is not very important, you need to be technical. Also, luck will play a big role in this championship, so ideally, everyone has a chance to lift the rally,” Rovanpera underlined, adding “I prefer racing on mud rather than fesh-fesh, the fesh-fesh dust and sand always proves quite cumbersome for me.”
WRC 2025 commences on March 20 with an official flag-off that will take place outside the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) and City Hall. City Hall Way was closed earlier this week to facilitate the opening ceremony.
In fresh changes, the Super Special Stage Kasarani head-to-head will run in reverse direction compared to previous years.
The action then moves to Naivasha and Nakuru counties with two new stages now included. According to organisers, Morendat Farm in Naivasha and Camp Moran have been included in the route of the competition with the iconic 32km Kedong stage cut down by half.
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