McRae Kimathi
Kenyan rally prodigy McRae Kimathi has proved that a Nairobi commute to a tax-office desk can coexist with flat-out, fifth-gear bravery on the world’s toughest stages. An alumnus of the FIA Rally Star talent-scout programme, he burst onto the scene in 2021 by sweeping the Junior African Rally Championship and the Africa Rally3 crown, pairing raw pace with an engineer’s feel for car setup. The breakthrough earned him a Junior World Rally Championship seat, and at his series debut on the ice-slick roads of Rally Sweden 2022 he steered his Ford Fiesta to fourth place, an unprecedented finish for a Kenyan in a snow rally and a statement that Africa’s next contender had arrived.
Kimathi balances weekday spreadsheets with weekend reconnaissance notes, citing the “discipline of numbers” for keeping his racing instincts sharp. Off the stages he mentors karting graduates and lobbies sponsors to underwrite tyre and telemetry costs for grassroots drivers, determined to widen Kenya’s talent pipeline beyond the privileged few. Now eyeing a full JWRC campaign and a points-scoring run at the 2026 Safari Rally, he is intent on turning flashes of brilliance into sustained championship bids, while proving that East African grit can thrive on any surface the WRC calendar throws at it.