A change in FIA regulations that coincides with the Safari Rally moving to a more traditional March date in Kenya’s rainy season has allowed Rally1 teams to fit these devices to cars for the first time.

Snorkels have long been a feature in the WRC and have been particularly associated with the Safari Rallys of the past. Perhaps the most iconic illustration of these in action is the now famous vision of a Toyota Celica submarining through one of Kenya’s notorious mud holes in the mid-1990s.

The protruding intakes that rise into the air from the bonnets of rally cars have proven to be a necessary piece of kit for tackling the most gruelling event on the WRC calendar.

Once again they could prove to be valuable this weekend with Toyota, Hyundai and M-Sport-Ford adding these systems to their Safari Rally survival kits.

A snorkel is a device designed to protect the engine from ingesting water or dust, which may affect combustion and can even severely damage the engine. It is particularly effective at the Safari Rally, which features thick fesh-fesh sand and deep water splashes.

Carlos Sainz, Luis Moya, Toyota Corolla WRC

Photo by: Sutton Images

The frequency of the latter is anticipated to be much higher for this year’s edition due to the threat of heavy rain showers given the event is now held in the rainy season.

It only takes one split-second moment in these conditions for an engine to flood, ending victory hopes in a heartbeat, ensuring that snorkels could potentially be crucial bits of kit.

How do the snorkels work?

The snorkel essentially enables the engine an unobstructed route to suck in clean air. Operating the device falls into the hands of the co-driver, who in M-Sport’s case touches a button in the cockpit to activate the system if conditions become treacherous.

These systems can be activated throughout an entire stage, but this will come at the cost of a performance advantage, so drivers will only use them when necessary.

«Basically, the aim of the snorkel is to have an auxiliary air intake and we know in Kenya you can get a lot of soft sand called fesh-fesh and often it comes up over the car.

«Equally, we know with the event being earlier in the season than normal, the chance of it being wet, as the guys found on the recce, can be pretty high,» M-Sport’s lead development engineer Tim Jackson explained to Motorsport.com.

«The main task of it is to have an auxiliary air intake to make sure that the air coming into the engine is as clean as possible so that you are not affecting performance.

«Ours is operated by the co-driver pretty much in a similar way to water splash valves that we have had in the past. In normal circumstances, you are using the standard air intake which all of the teams design to get the maximum performance out of the engine.

«In the instance where the crew feel there is a risk to that intake, whether it is going through a river crossing or a large water splash or deep sand, then the co-driver is able to operate that air intake to divert the air into the engine from the snorkel.

Grégoire Munster, Louis Louka, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team Ford Puma Rally1

Photo by: M-Sport

«There is a small servo motor and it is electronically controlled and there is a button that they press and that operates the motor which moves a valve, which then allows the air to enter from the intake.

«For the normal driving, we want to maintain performance, so the idea is the guys just use the snorkel in case when it is really needed.

«It is a reasonable amount of work [to create] bearing in mind that it is one event, and we are hoping we don’t need to use it for all the other events. It only takes one moment to catch you out.»

While snorkels are only likely to be required for one WRC round this year, Toyota, Hyundai and M-Sport have spent a considerable amount of time designing and perfecting their systems for Kenya.

M-Sport has opted for a traditional snorkel mounted on the right-hand side of the Ford Puma’s bonnet, which then climbs up the A-pillar. Hyundai is yet to show off its final design, but rival Toyota has revealed a radical approach to its snorkel.

Toyota’s snorkel is mounted to the right side of the GR Yaris’s bonnet. Interestingly its device runs up the A-pillar before then crossing the roof of the car. The system transforms into a carefully sculpted shape to avoid affecting the car’s aerodynamics.

When asked about Toyota’s design, Jackson added: «I think the main aims will still be the same for all teams which are for the device to not have a detrimental effect on the driver’s visibility while trying to do that design in the most aerodynamic way as possible, and not have a detrimental effect on the aerodynamics of the car.

Elfyn Evans, Scott Martin, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Photo by: Toyota Racing

«If you can do the design and hit all of those targets and you can do a design and perhaps get some additional gain from it, then you try and implement that.»

The unpredictable nature of Kenya’s weather and the speed at which hot dry gravel can transform into thick mud means that it’s difficult to know whether snorkels will be required or not.

However, these devices that hark back to the past could well be crucial in deciding the outcome of this year’s Safari Rally Kenya.

«It is one of those things where nobody has forced us to do it,» said Jackson. «The opportunity exists in the regulations and if you decide not to do something you could look pretty foolish.

«You have to have that contingency. It could be that it is not needed at all over the weekend, but you can’t afford not to take that risk. It only takes one moment for it to be worth its weight in gold.»

Watch: Safari Rally Kenya Shakedown highlights

The most gruelling event on the WRC calendar began with its traditional Kasarani side-by-side super special [4.84km] in the centre of the Kenyan capital city Nairobi. Neuville came out on top with a 0.1-second margin over Tanak.

Neuville took on Toyota title rival Elfyn Evans in their heat, which resulted in the former posting a time 1.7s faster than the Welshman.

“It will be a challenging event. Our fingers are crossed that, this time, we get through without any technical problems or mistakes,” said Neuville. “I think we are well-prepared and I am feeling good in the car, so it’s always good to start a rally like this.”

Hyundai opted to tackle the stage, which featured a couple of water splashes, without a snorkel device, while Toyota and M-Sport Ford elected to fit their newly-designed intake systems.

The devices were not severely tested as conditions were largely dry, barring the man-made water splashes.

Neuville’s time was ultimately 0.1s faster than Tanak, who defeated M-Sport’s Adrien Fourmaux by 2.1s in their head-to-head.

“The first thing in my mind is to get through without too much trouble,” said Tanak. “For sure, there will be some stress at times, and with the weather we need luck on our side.”

Two-time world champion Kalle Rovanpera emerged as the best-placed Toyota in third overall, 0.8s adrift of pacesetter Neuville.

The Finn, making the second start of his partial campaign, was the second Rally1 car into the stage and as a result he expected his time to be eclipsed as the road cleaned with every pass. Rovanpera comfortably beat M-Sport’s Gregoire Munster in their heat.

Gus Greensmith, Jonas Andersson, Toksport WRT Skoda Fabia RS Rally2

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

“It’s nice to see all the fans here. It was so slippy and there was no line after the smaller cars,” said Rovanpera. “This rally is not won on the first stage anyway. It’s going to be a challenging week, but we will do our best.”

Rovanpera’s team-mate Takamoto Katsuta pipped Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi by 0.6s to sit fourth overall, while Evans slotted into sixth behind Lappi. Fourmaux ended the stage in seventh overall, 2.2s behind Neuville.

Gus Greensmith was the fastest of the Rally2 runners; the British driver, kicking off his 2024 season, was 2.4s faster than Oliver Solberg.

Greensmith did have the advantage of a cleaner road following a late order shuffle from organisers, which meant he ran after the Rally1 cars. Solberg clocked his time having been one of the first drivers to enter the stage.

The top Rally1 and Rally2 runners were delayed in starting the stage after local driver Samman Singh Vohra rolled his Skoda Fabia.

Vohra ran wide into a long, left hander which resulted in the Fabia hitting an earth mound, triggering a soft roll. Driver and co-driver were unhurt while the car suffered cosmetic damage.

The crews will head north-west from Nairobi to Lake Naivasha to contest six stages on Friday.

Snorkels were famously adopted by WRC teams in previous editions of the event – prior to its WRC return in 2021 – to help cars navigate through sections of tricky terrain, preventing water and dust from entering the engine. 

The device made a re-appearance when the Safari Rally returned to the WRC, but regulations prohibited Rally1 cars from using them. However, the FIA has this year altered the regulations to allow the top class to add snorkels to the cars.   

The regulation change coincides with the Safari Rally moving back to its more traditional Easter date during Kenya’s rainy season, instead of the June berth of the last three years.

Toyota, Hyundai and M-Sport-Ford have been preparing for the rally with snorkel devices fitted to their respective cars in testing.

With wetter conditions more likely, the snorkel device will be “much more relevant”, according to M-Sport’s Adrien Fourmaux.

“We are right in the middle of the rainy season now so we can expect the places where we had the fesh-fesh [sand] in the past could be full of mud, so I don’t know what to expect to be fair, I think it will be new,” Fourmaux told Motorsport.com’s Gravel Notes podcast.

Armin Schwarz, Manfred Hiemer, Skoda Octavia WRC

Photo by: Sutton Images

“We can expect to pass a lot of water splashes and they will be really muddy, and it will be like the old-school videos where we see the cars covered in mud and even the drivers getting stuck in some places. 

“We are going to have to be smart to get away from the mud in some places. It will be even more challenging. You can try to go flat in the mud but if there is a rock and you don’t see it, you will break the car. 

“I think when there is a big storm over there it can be really muddy, but even in previous years it would have been nice to have the snorkel in some places because of the fesh-fesh.

“The engine is just a vacuum so it is taking everything and all the dust from the fesh-fesh was going into the air filter, so at least we can use it to avoid the engine eating some dust. I think now it [the snorkel] is much more relevant for the mud for sure.

“I also think for the promotion of the sport it is nice to have something different.”

 

Read Also: