Sebastien Ogier (FRA) Vincent Landais (FRA) of Team TOYOTA GAZOO RACING WRT celebrate on the podium for first place after winning the World Rally Championship in Naivasha, Kenya. (Photo by Red Bull Content Pool)
Sébastien Ogier defied his team-mate Kalle Rovanperä’s push to secure a dream 1-2-3-4 result for Toyota Gazoo Racing on a spectacular final day of Safari Rally Kenya.
Ogier took his third win from just five starts this season, but his rally nearly collapsed on Sunday’s second stage when a patch of Kenya’s infamous fesh-fesh sand sent his GR Yaris car wide on a right-hander.
The Frenchman, who was struggling to make up for the time lost in the rocky opener against Rovanperä, crashed into a tree and ripped off the entire tailgate of his car. He won the stage amazingly and made it back all the time. He then filled the gap with a trash bag to keep the dust out in Hell’s Gate 1.
However, more permanent in-service repairs failed to erase the drama as all four Yaris crews completed the penultimate explosion with engines overheated due to dust. Ogier, who was hardest hit, saw his lead shrink to just 9.2 seconds before the finale of the Wolf Power Stage, where the eight-time World Champion’s run was again far from flawless and he finished with a cracked windscreen.
He held his position and triumphed by 6.7 seconds after four brutal days, leading Toyota’s second clean-shooting win in as many Safari Rally editions.
President William Ruto presented Ogier and co-driver Vincent Landais with their trophies, commemorating Ogier’s second win at the event set against the stunning backdrop of Hell’s Gate.
“Incredible! Look at it, even on the Power Stage I got a rock on the windscreen,” said Ogier. “We faced a lot of problems – it could have been a more comfortable rally for us in terms of pace .It was a lot of misfortune, but we made it.”
Second place was a glimmer of hope for defending champion Rovanperä, who extended his lead in the championship to 37 points after the seventh of 13 rounds.
“You always want to fight for victory, but we did our best with the first car on the road, so I think it’s not too bad,” said Rovanperä. “Definitely good points for the season.”
Takamoto Katsuta’s hopes of surpassing team-mate Elfyn Evans and taking a third podium finish in Safari Rally were dashed when his car’s hybrid unit malfunctioned, affecting crucial performance. He settled for fourth overall, 25.3 seconds behind the Toyota-driving Welshman, while Ogier and Rovanperä were more than two minutes from the finish.
Dani Sordo overcame power steering failure in SS16 to finish an isolated fifth place at the end of a weekend of testing for Hyundai Motorsport, now 42 points adrift of Toyota in the race for the manufacturers’ title.
Early contender on the podium, Esapekka Lappi, was far behind after being plagued by gearbox problems in his i20 N, while Thierry Neuville, recovering from a suspension failure on Friday, could only manage eighth place.
Tire problems early in the rally prevented M-Sport Ford Puma drivers Ott Tänak and Pierre-Louis Loubet from attacking. They finished sixth and seventh, respectively.
Eighth-placed Kajetan Kajetanowicz secured his second Kenyan WRC2 victory in the Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo. Oliver Solberg was not nominated for points in the support category but finished ninth overall while Martin Prokop completed the top 10.
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