Toyota Gazoo Racing comes away with 1-2-3-4 finish in Safari Rally Kenya

MANILA: Toyota Gazoo Racing secured a historic victory at the prestigious Safari Rally Kenya with Kalle Rovanpera leading an incredible clean sweep of the top four positions for the GR Yaris Rally1 car.  He was joined on the podium by Elfyn Evans, Takamoto Katsuta, and Sebastien Ogier.

Toyota has now won the renowned African race 10 times, and this is the first time since the same rally in 1993 that it has finished 1-2-3-4 in the WRC. In the championship's nearly three decades since, only one other manufacturer has accomplished the same feat.

The Safari presented even more difficult conditions in its second run since its comeback to the WRC calendar last year, including deep "fesh-fesh" sand on Friday and wet and muddy roads on Saturday in addition to the constant presence of rocks and stones. The Kenyan terrain presented the new generation of hybrid-powered Rally1 cars with their toughest challenge yet, but the GR Yaris managed to persevere, remain dependable, and win the weekend without any major issues. The next-best car came in 8.5 minutes and changed behind the Toyota quartet.

Rovanpera had an early concern during Thursday's opening super special in Nairobi when he raced wide and knocked a tire off its rim. He then continued to drive flawlessly as he and co-driver Jonne Halttunen earned their fourth victory in five rounds, extending their championship lead to 65 points.

Evans and his co-driver Scott Martin both gave excellent performances and outperformed their teammates to win, staying within 20 seconds of the lead until the rain started on Saturday afternoon. They earned their second podium of the season by finishing 52.8 seconds away.

One year after winning his first podium at the same event, TGR WRC Challenge Program driver Katsuta once again performed a superb and shrewd rally in Kenya's challenging conditions. His co-driver Aaron Johnston, who participated with him under the TGR World Rally Team Next Generation banner, also achieved his first podium finish.

Ogier, the 2021 event winner, was in the lead for the majority of Friday in the defense of his title until he had to stop and change a tire on the final stage of the day, losing over two minutes. In the rally's final Power Stage, he and co-driver Benjamin Veillas climbed to fourth place overall while their teammates concentrated on helping them finish. This added to the team's overall points from the weekend. It now has a 62-point advantage in the manufacturers' championship.

Photos from Toyota

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