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The 2023 World Rally Championships (WRC) Safari Rally got off to a thrilling start today for the much anticipated four-day event that will be held at Naivasha, Nakuru County as bigwigs go head-to-head.

KCB Bank Kenya is the official financial partner injecting Sh 150 million into this year’s edition which marks 20 years since KCB started sponsoring motorsports in the country.

Of the total sponsorship monies, Sh 100 million will go directly to the 2023 WRC Safari Rally event while Sh 50 million will support sponsorship of three local drivers, brand activations and customer engagements.

The three drivers are KNRC champion Karan Patel, Nikhil Sachania and Evans Kavisi. Karan Patel will be navigated by his longtime friend Tauseef Khan while Deep Patel and Absalom Aswani will be navigating Nikhil Sachania and Evans Kavisi respectively.

The sponsorship underlines KCB’s commitment to supporting motorsport in the country, having spent over Sh 1.5 Billion in the past 20 years, the highlight being the Safari Rally’s return to the global showpiece that is the World Rally Championships after a two-decade absence.

KCB Group CEO Paul Russo said: “We believe in building a critical pool of sporting talent that can compete locally and internationally.