Warren Nel

The first full day of action would see the crews have a very long day with 149km’s over ten stages. Elfyn and Scott would open the road throughout the day. Their championship challengers would hope that they would have better and cleaner roads to allow them to challenge for the top positions and perhaps finish ahead of the Toyota crew.

Coming into the day there’d been a short stage the previous evening giving a leaderboard of sorts. After this Elfyn held the lead from Ott whilst Seb was third and actually matched Ott’s time.

First up was SS2 Mortágua 1 – 14.59 km and Ott was fastest from Kalle and Elfyn.  It was a good start then for the number 33 Toyota crew. However, it was not so good for Thierry who had a spin in the stage and lost quite a bit of time. It was worse for Martins in the M-Sport Puma who had a puncture on his front left. He and Renaur would lose a huge amount of time. The top overall three was now Ott, Kalle and Elfyn.

Next was SS3 Lousã 1 – 12.28 km and Ott was fastest again from his teammate Adrien with Kalle third. Elfyn fell behind Adrien to fourth but was still only 4.9 seconds from the leader. The conditions in the stage were not too bad with some damp sections meaning the road would not sap too much of the pace for Elfyn. Thierry was on the move though and gained one position to seventh place at the expense of Sami.

Onto SS4 Góis 1 – 14.30 km and Adrien was fastest this time from Seb and Takamoto. The Frenchman’s pace took him into second overall and was now just 2.1 seconds from the leader his teammate Ott. The Estonian could only manage fourth fastest. There were some position changes behind the top two as well with Seb moving into fourth and Takamoto into fifth with Elfyn falling two places to sixth.

Just the final morning stage then, SS5 Arganil 1 – 14.41 km and Adrien was fastest again from Takamoto and Seb. Ott was once again fourth in the stage and his lead was only two tenths of a second. Meanwhile Kalle fell two positions to fifth with Seb and Takamoto gaining a position each.

After the midday service SS6 Lousã 2 – 12.28 km was next and Seb was fastest from Takamoto and Ott. Further back Thierry passed Elfyn and moved into sixth place overall.

Next up was SS7 Góis 2 – 14.30 km and Takamoto was fastest from Thierry and Seb. The Japanese driver moved into third overall with Seb dropping to fourth. Meanwhile Adrien remained just eight tenths of a second from Ott who still held the lead.

SS8 Arganil 2 – 14.41 km followed and Thierry was fastest this time from Kalle and Takamoto. Unfortunately, Adrien retired in this stage from second place after suffering broken suspension at half distance in the stage.

Just three stages remained after the final tyre fitting zone and the first was SS9 Mortágua 2 – 14.59 km. Ott was fastest from Kalle and Thierry. Seb moved up to second overall with Takamoto falling to third.

Onto the penultimate stage of the day then, SS10 Águeda / Sever – 15.08 km and Seb was fastest from Ott and Thierry. The Estonian’s lead was now down to 5.8 seconds over Seb. Further back Josh passed his teammate Greg for eighth position.

Finally, the last stage of the day, SS11 Sever / Albergaria – 20.24 km and Ott was again fastest from Seb and Sami. The top three remained Ott, Seb and Takamoto. Meanwhile with his third fastest time, Sami actually passed Elfyn for sixth place overall. It was a surprise that Toyota had let their young driver pass the championship leader.

Let’s take a look at the top ten and hear from the drivers.

Classification after Day One

1 O. Tänak M. Järveoja Hyundai i20 N Rally1 1:41:26.2 2 S. Ogier V. Landais Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +7.0 3 T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +27.1 4 K. Rovanperä J. Halttunen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +28.3 5 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +32.7 6 S. Pajari M. Salminen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1:01.4 7 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1:09.0 8 G. Munster L. Louka Ford Puma Rally1 +1:50.2 9 J. McErlean E. Treacy Ford Puma Rally1 +1:54.3 10 O. Solberg E. Edmondson Toyota GR Yaris +3:38.2

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“It’s been a tough day. It started off not too badly: the first two stages of the morning were not completely dry, so the conditions were a bit more similar for everyone and we weren’t losing too much time. After that we struggled a lot more. The middle loop is where I think we could have done better, because the last loop was extremely difficult in terms of cleaning with very low grip. At least we will be in a better position tomorrow and the sandier stages should be a bit more enjoyable to drive, so we hope to find a better feeling and push more.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“It’s been a crazy long day, but I think we have to be quite happy. It was not optimal, but I think we did what we could with our starting position. The day started with lower grip conditions than we usually see here in Portugal, and I think it was a bit tricky for everybody. Then it started to dry up and it felt a bit more like usual. I think the middle loop especially was good for us and now we’ll try to catch up some time if we can tomorrow on stages that usually suit us quite well.”

Sébastien Ogier

“I’m happy with my day today. It was a difficult start this morning as I felt something was not right with the car setup – probably a consequence of the difficult wet conditions we had in our test. But I started to work on it between stages and the rhythm got better. I’m happy with the way we fought and managed to stay in touch with the lead, while also trying to save some soft tyres for the rest of the weekend. To be in a battle with Ott is always intense and enjoyable and I know I need to give my best to keep the pressure on tomorrow.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“Things were going well through most of today. I was feeling very comfortable in the car and I was enjoying the driving. In the last loop with some new stages the feeling maybe wasn’t quite so good, and I was maybe driving a bit more on the safe side. But we are still in third position with two days to go, and still in a good place on the road for tomorrow, so I will keep trying to push.”

Sami Pajari

“It has not been a bad day for us. At first the conditions were changing, and it was not easy to get in a rhythm, but then it started to become drier and also quite rough. With the rain in testing the preparation was not ideal but we were able to make quite a lot of changes with the setup and it was going in a better direction. I didn’t really feel that I was really pushing hard today so the pace was probably where it should be and we will try to build on this tomorrow.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Ott Tänak

“This morning was definitely positive. I had a good flow and feeling on the first two stages, but after that lost some of it. Despite this, we tried to make the most of the day to ensure a good road position for tomorrow. We knew the Toyotas didn’t have the best position today, so we had the upper hand on them, and we capitalised on that advantage. It’s very tight and it’s nice to have this kind of competition – we now have only a few hours to determine our strategy and hopefully find more pace tomorrow.”

Thierry Neuville

“Overall, a positive day. This morning we were pushing but just didn’t get everything together, and immediately lost eight seconds with our spin and then a bit more as we struggled with confidence. However, I’m satisfied with how the day went and that we are very close to a podium position; we’re in a good place to have a better day tomorrow, and having Ott at the front is also nice. A good day for the team. It was tough, and while I think we perform well in those conditions, this was maybe too long for my liking.”

Adrien Fourmaux

“Today was going really well until a part in the front-left suspension broke on SS8 and we were forced to retire. It wasn’t something we could fix quickly, which was a real shame after our strong morning. Our pace was great, we felt comfortable in the car and we were fighting for the lead, so we can still take plenty of positives from today. We need to understand what happened so we can hopefully rejoin tomorrow and continue our push.”

 

Oliver Solberg

“Yes, it’s been a long one, we knew that was coming and we knew it would be tough. And it was at times, but it’s fantastic to be here and leading like this.

“This morning I was taking a little bit of time to find the feeling with the car in this kind of set-up. I didn’t compete in the Yaris on this style of road before, so I wanted to get comfortable, to find the grip and the confidence. We did that. In the last one, I was trying to look after the tyre – there were so many rocks around. Maybe I was a little bit too careful, but it’s OK.

“We had a high-speed spin on the second run of Lousã which cost us sometime, but otherwise everything has gone really quite perfect for me and Elliott. I have to say, I’m really happy with the car and a big thanks to the team for making everything right.”

 

Saturday

This day will see the crews tackle 122.92km’s over seven stages. Can Ott continue to hold the lead or will Seb and even Takamoto move past him? Can Elfyn move up as well and improve his points haul?

 

Time then for the next round of this season’s championship as the teams will tackle the gravel stages of Portugal. This classic round of the championship has been around for decades and is one loved by the drivers.

The rally has 344km’s over 24 stages this year with the longest day being Friday with 149km’s over the ten stages. Each day has it’s normal morning and afternoon stages run in the usual repeat format each day.

Let’s hear from the drivers.

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“After a good start to the season we’re now entering a sequence of gravel events where, as championship leader, it can be challenging running first on the road on the Friday if it’s dry. My recent testing on gravel has been in the wet, so preparation has not been ideal, but the feeling was good in Kenya and even if the rallies we’re heading into are quite different to that, I’m confident we can start them in a stronger place than where we were last year. Portugal has some great stages that are fun to drive, so we’ll be looking to enjoy them and even if road cleaning is a factor, we also want to aim for a strong run through Sunday to keep scoring as many points as we can.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“It felt good to win again in the Canaries after quite a while. Now we go back to gravel, where I’m still working to feel as comfortable as I do on asphalt. On gravel there’s always less grip and you’re sliding a lot more, and with the different weight balance of the car and new tyres this year, I’m still looking for the happy place. Together with the team we were working hard on it during our test last week and hopefully we can find a good, consistent pace to keep scoring the points on these next rallies. The style of the stages in Portugal is really nice, I always enjoy driving them and hopefully we can be fast there again this year.”

Sébastien Ogier

“Rally Islas Canarias was a nice event for the whole team, and I was pretty happy with my own result. Now we go back onto gravel after a long time away for me, since Chile last October. A lot has changed in that time with the car and the tyres, and I had some challenging weather conditions in my test, but I’m lucky to have a great team around me and my team-mates and let’s hope we can carry on the great start to the season. I’ve always loved Portugal; it’s a rally with a unique atmosphere and a lot of fans. It was nice to finally get the sixth win there last year and it would be amazing if we could repeat that result again.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“The last rally was very good for me and for the team, and it’s always nice to come away with a good result and a good feeling. Now we go to Portugal, where there’s a lot of fans and a lot of passion and I can feel that amazing atmosphere every year. I enjoy the stages a lot and they suit me pretty well. We’re still learning about the gravel tyres and so the test was important to find a good setup for the rally, and we’ve tried to prepare well. I’ve been close to a podium in Portugal in the last few years and my main target is going to be to set good, consistent times in every stage and enjoy.”

Sami Pajari

“In the Canaries my rally was going quite well until the slightest mistake took us out. It was a pity but it’s all part of the learning and now we look forward to the next event in Portugal. Some of the stages there can be really enjoyable, and others can be very rough, and with long days and high temperatures it can be demanding for the car and the crew. It’s again quite different to what’s come before, but we will just continue with our approach; I hope we can have a clean event in Portugal and then try to improve from one rally to the next through Sardinia and Greece.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“Rally de Portugal is like any other gravel rally, you need to optimise your road position and try to manage the temperatures, especially on the first days in the Amarante area. The main challenge is the road conditions, they can be abrasive and tyre wear can be an issue if you push too hard. On Sunday, the stages are smoother so you can really push across the final day. We need a strong result as a team, we need to be stronger than the Toyotas and we need to outscore Elfyn – he has a big lead in the championship and we haven’t been able to fight back as much as we would have hoped, so he will be our main target to beat in Portugal along with Kalle.”

Ott Tänak

“Rally de Portugal is a huge event in so many ways. There are roads that I enjoy a lot, and the history of the rally paired with the atmosphere we have there every year is all you can ask for from an event. Every time we go to a rally, we always target to be on top in the fight, but you are only as good as your last result, which in our case wasn’t the strongest. We need to keep our head down and work our way back on top. This is the fifth rally this year where we have new tyres, and we need to get maximum out of it. There’s no doubt the rally will be hard; Portugal always has very long days and rough conditions on the second loop.”

Adrien Fourmaux

“Rally de Portugal is a big challenge; the heat is demanding so managing tyres is a big task. There are some places where it’s full attack, but at the same time we have to be careful with the tyres – it’s a factor we need to determine during our testing. There are places on the rally where we need to be cautious, but you can still establish big gaps so it can be a sprint at times. We didn’t get the best results at the end of the last round, so as a team we need to stop the domination of Toyota and get a really good result with all three cars. I want to be back on the podium to help with the charge, this is crucial for the rest of the season.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Grégoire Munster

“I’ve had a really good feeling during the test. The whole team is clearly motivated to bounce back after Canarias, so I’m looking forward to a strong event around Porto. It’s typical to have two kinds of stages here—some with a softer surface, like in Fafe, and others that are rougher with a hard base. Portugal always feels like two events in one! M-Sport has shown in the past that the car can be really competitive here, so we’re aiming for a good result.”

Josh McErlean

“It feels great to be heading back to Rally Portugal—this event holds some really good memories for us. I can’t wait to get going again, this time in a Rally1 car. It’s the start of the gravel season and there’s no better place to kick it off. The fans, the atmosphere, the roads—everything about Portugal is just mega.”

Mārtiņš Sesks

“I’m really looking forward to summer and the start of the gravel season with Portugal. I competed in Portugal once before, in 2021, in Junior WRC. I think some of the stages will be similar, and I hope having some knowledge of them will help. We’ve also done two rallies with Past Racing in the Portuguese championship, which should be helpful as well. We’ve done some good preparation, but this will still be a demanding event, and I know everyone’s very focused on doing well here. Our goal remains to keep developing, stay consistent, and stick to this approach throughout the season. We’re excited to see what we can achieve on gravel this year!”

Romet Jürgenson

“Portugal is one of those legendary events that you always want to do, I’m glad that this year we have the chance to do it! Even though its our first time there, I think we’re going to really enjoy the event. The stages look amazing, and obviously I still feel more natural on gravel so that should also help. We’re looking forward to doing a good, solid, mistake-free event; the goal is to try to improve our pace throughout the weekend.”

Pierre-Louis Loubet

“First of all, I’m very pleased to be back in the team and to be back driving again in a Rally2 car in the WRC2 category. I’m looking forward to hopefully doing well on a rally I know really well, so let’s see what we can do! There will be a lot of discovery for me with this car, but from what I’ve seen it’s a good package and the tyres are new for everyone, so maybe there’s some opportunity for us.”

Oliver Solberg

“Much as I love to compete on this event, it’s been quite tough in the last couple of years. We had a penalty which cost us the win in 2023 and then last time we crashed after we saw Kalle [Rovanperä] off the road directly in front of us. Both times, I was thinking we could have taken the win, it was in our hand. This time I definitely want to get it done and bring it home.

“The first day of this event is always a tricky one. The roads around Arganil are tough and you don’t have the full service – only two remote services for this really long day. So, you have to be thinking a little bit to manage the car and the tyres through Friday.

“But, at the same time, with so many cars registered in WRC2 and with so much competition, you really can’t afford to be taking it easy. You have to keep pushing but try to limit the risk for everything. It’s a tough one.

“The weekend stages are really nice as well, but not usually so abrasive. And, of course, the final day includes Fafe. This stage is just incredible. You fly into this place near the finish with so many fans and so many people having a huge party – it’s definitely one of the most amazing sights of the season!

“For us, the job is simple: we need to take the points. We made a great start to the year with the win at home in Sweden, but getting stuck in the fech fech in Kenya wasn’t good for us. We want to be back on top [of WRC2] and the best way to do that is to finally win in Portugal.”

 

Summary

Well once again we are set for a spectacular rally. Of course, Elfyn and Scott will open the road throughout the first full day and as it is the longest day as well. They will be sweeping the road of gravel, and this will make it very hard to be in the top positions at the end of the first day. Their best hope is that there will be rain which will make it easier for them to set a higher pace.

Of course, their teammates Kalle and Jonne will have a cleaner road as they will be second on the road and will hope that they can make the most of a cleaner road to make a good start and build an advantage over their rivals.

 

Thierry and Martijn will hope that their title defence really starts this weekend and that they can take a good podium or even victory. Let’s wait and see what they can do this weekend.

 

Enjoy!

Well, we came to the final day of this event, and it was all looking very good for Kalle and Jonne to take their first win of the year. Toyota were also set for a lockout of the top four positions as well. Of course, it should be mentioned that Sami and Marko would not be returning to the action after their crash in the penultimate Saturday stage twelve. Once again Greg would open the road throughout the day.

First up was SS14 Agüimes – Santa Lucía 1 – 14.97 km and there was drama from the start as Josh went wide and hit a barrier at a third of a way into the stage. He and Eoin were out on the spot sadly. Kalle was again fastest from Seb and Elfyn.

Next up was SS15 Maspalomas 1 – 13.47 km and Kalle again set the fastest time from Elfyn and Thierry was third. Greg gained another position on the leaderboard moving into eleventh overall and was now fifty-four seconds from tenth placed Nikolay Gryazin.

Onto SS16 Costa Canaria – 1.50 km and it was another mickey mouse stage won by Adrien, whilst Seb and Yohan set the same time to go second and third. These silly stages are not rallying and quite honestly utterly pointless.

Seb was fastest in SS17 Agüimes – Santa Lucía 2 – 14.97 km from Elfyn and Kalle. There was a position change as Ott moved into sixth place at the expense of Thierry who had a puncture and lost almost a minute and a quarter.

Onto the final stage then, SS18 Maspalomas 2[Power Stage] – 13.47 km. The top five in the stage and therefore securing power stage points were, Kalle, Seb, Elfyn, Adrien and Thierry. Kalle had secured victory from Seb and Elfyn. Takamoto was fourth meaning that the Toyota team secured the top four positions.

Let’s take a look at the top positions and hear from the drivers.

Final Classification – Rally Islas Canarias

1	K. Rovanperä	J. Halttunen	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	2:54:39.8
2	S. Ogier	V. Landais	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+53.5
3	E. Evans	S. Martin	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+1:17.1
4	T. Katsuta	A. Johnston	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+2:02.9
5	A. Fourmaux	A. Coria	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	+2:31.0
6	O. Tänak	M. Järveoja	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	+3:11.4
7	T. Neuville	M. Wydaeghe	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	+3:40.7
8	Y. Rossel	A. Dunand	Citroën C3	+7:10.7
9	A. Cachón	B. Rozada	Toyota GR Yaris	+7:40.2
10	N. Gryazin	K. Aleksandrov	Škoda Fabia RS	+7:58.4

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Kalle Rovanperä

“It’s been a super weekend for us and also the whole team. To get a 1-2-3-4 result like this again is quite amazing. We have just been enjoying the driving. The car has been super-fast, so a big thanks to the whole team for preparing it so well. Jonne has also been doing a great job and we drove well so it’s probably one of my best wins so far. It’s not so often on this level when you can be so consistently fast through the whole weekend. To get maximum points was our goal today and we really needed that. It’s still a big gap to Elfyn but at least we are now a step closer, and we keep working.”

Sébastien Ogier

“It’s an amazing result for the team to lock out the top four. It doesn’t happen every time and we need to be very happy with that. On our side, second place is not my favourite position but it’s still a good one. I think we drove a pretty good rally. I enjoyed it so much; the car was fun to drive and a big thanks to the team for giving us the best tools this weekend. Kalle and Jonne were untouchable but it’s still a very positive weekend for us, securing maximum points for the team.”

Elfyn Evans

“It’s been a great weekend from the team with an incredible performance from the GR YARIS Rally1. A big thank you to the team who’ve done a great job understanding the challenges of this rally, preparing the car and adapting to the new tyres. A big well done to Kalle because he had pace that nobody else could match this weekend, and well done to Seb also. I’m not wholly satisfied of course to have been a bit behind them and not fight for the win with equal machinery, but it’s still good points and we have to be relatively pleased with that.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“I’m very proud to be part of such an amazing result for the team. A big thanks to everyone in the team for preparing the car so well. It’s been such a nice car to drive all weekend, and this is why we could finish 1-2-3-4 on such a new and different rally that we haven’t been to before. On my side it would have been nice if we could have finished even higher, but it’s been a good rally for us with no big moments, and I will focus now on the next one to keep improving.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Adrien Fourmaux

“While there are some positives from the weekend, such as that amazing final stage and winning our inter-team battle, for sure it is not what we wanted. Sometimes in difficult rallies like this you can learn a lot and take steps forward for the future – I’m confident in the team that we can do that. We managed to take some points, which is good, but we will keep pushing to come back stronger.”

Ott Tänak

“It’s difficult to find the words to describe such a demanding weekend. I think it’s the worst we’ve been across all three crews, with none of us able to compete at the front. It is tricky when it is hot, as I get more understeer, and when the car is not working I really struggled to push. We didn’t do our homework and we weren’t prepared for this event, and Toyota set the bar very high – it was a great job from them.”

Thierry Neuville

“It hasn’t been a good weekend for us. We struggled a lot, and even though we were working hard to fix the situation, everything we tried didn’t seem to work. We still need to put our finger on what has caused these issues for us and come back stronger. Nevertheless, the team kept fighting despite all our struggles; we weren’t lucky with the puncture today, otherwise we might have got a reasonable result. We expected much more from this weekend, and we didn’t get it.”

 

M-Sport Ford

Grégoire Munster

“Although we learnt a lot in our pre-event test, sadly we still got something wrong and once we are here with sealed mechanical components we can’t really do much to try and solve it. Sometimes that’s just how it is, but we never gave up all weekend and we kept trying to find solutions. Certainly, we don’t have the result we wanted to achieve, but we didn’t give up and that’s the most important thing. I’m looking forward to bouncing back on gravel in Portugal in only a couple of weeks.

“Thanks must go out to the organisers for such a well organised event; it is amazing to see how many fans came out to watch us. It made the weekend incredibly enjoyable, even if the stages were a challenge.”

Romet Jürgenson

“The rally on Friday sadly ended quite quickly for us, we missed a whole day and after that it was quite difficult to get the confidence back for Saturday. But once we got out there it got better, and then I think especially on the Power Stage I felt quite ok. There’s a lot more to learn and a lot to improve on, but I think for our second Rally2 event on Tarmac we can be satisfied. It’s just this kind of pure racetrack tarmac, for me, is really new but it has been a really good experience for us.”

Josh McErlean, Retired Sunday

“This island has produced many memories! It’s been difficult from the start; we began to make small progress over the three days with the whole package. It’s a big shame what happened today, a little too ambitious pacenote meant we carried too much speed and ran wide into an armco. I’m sorry for the whole team for this mistake. We have learnt a lot about the car and my own driving this weekend. I look forward to getting back on the gravel now and into more familiar territory, everything should come a little more naturally and we can push on from here.”

 

Oliver Solberg

“Experience and a deeper understanding of how the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 works on dry Tarmac was what we’re all about here. I take much more confidence away from the event.

“Today was really cool, really nice. We were winning a lot of stages, which was great given how close the fight was at the front of the WRC2 class. We’ve worked a lot with the set-up for the car and today showed what’s possible – Elliott and I were really enjoying the driving and having so much fun.

“The whole Printsport team has done such a good job with the car, like always and the same with Elliott on the notes.

“The speed on these roads from these cars is fantastic. What’s also been great this week is the atmosphere. I know we talk a lot about how much we love to see the fans and interact with them on events, but it’s really what our sport’s about – we have to take it to the people.

“On Saturday night, the spectator stage went into the Gran Canaria Arena, and we actually did some donuts in the middle of a basketball court – the whole place was packed with thousands of people. It was just fantastic.

“OK, we didn’t get the chance to actually look and see the faces from the fans, but you could really feel the noise inside the car.

“Now, we turn to the gravel rallies through the middle of the season. Portugal is next and that’s a very, very different event to this one – but definitely one of the highlights of the year.”

Next rally is in Portugal from the 15 to the 18 of May.

2025 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round 4

1	E. Evans	109
2	K. Rovanperä	66
3	T. Neuville	59
4	S. Ogier	58
5	O. Tänak	57
6	A. Fourmaux	44
7	T. Katsuta	39
8	S. Pajari	19
9	G. Munster	16
10	M. Sesks	8

 

2025 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round 4

1	Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team	208
2	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	157
3	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	58
4	Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team 2	25

 

Onto day two then and with 124km’s over seven stages, what would the day hold? The Puma’s of M-Sport would open the road with Josh first into the stages followed by Greg, whilst rally leader Kalle would be last of the top cars to complete.

First up then was SS7 Moya – Gáldar 1 – 24.09 km and Seb was second fastest to Kalle by just one second, whilst Elfyn kept his consistent run going third fastest. Adrien was back to being the fastest of the Hyundai crews going fifth fastest and passing both his teammates and moving into sixth overall.

Next came SS8 Arucas – Firgas – Teror 1 – 13.75 km and Kalle was fastest again from Seb and Elfyn. The three of them continued to hold the podium positions and there were no changes to the top positions at all.

The final morning stage then, SS9 Tejeda – San Mateo 1 – 23.30 km and Kalle continued to dominate the top of the timesheets taking another stage win from Seb and Takamoto this time. Adrien was still the top Hyundai driver, holding sixth. The Frenchman was actually pulling away from his two world champion teammates, who were really struggling.

After the service break came SS10 Moya – Gáldar 2 – 24.09 km and Kalle was fastest from Seb and Sami this time. The times were coming very easily for Kalle and Jonne and no-one could get close.

Next up was SS11 Arucas – Firgas – Teror 2 – 13.75 km and Kalle made it eleven stage wins in a row. Seb and Elfyn remained second and third fastest, just two seconds behind their teammate. There was drama for Greg and Louis who slid wide on a right-hander, and they lost over three minutes whilst some spectators helped them return to them to the road.

The final proper stage then of the day, SS12 Tejeda – San Mateo 2 – 23.30 km and there was some more drama as Sami who was setting a very high pace went wide on a left-hander and collided with a roadside barrier. This led to heavy damage to the right-hand front of the car and put the car out for the remainder of the day. Kalle was fastest from Elfyn this time and Seb was third. Of course, with the retirement of Sami, everyone behind gained a single position with Takamoto now holding fourth place overall.

Finally, to the last stage of the day, SS13 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria – 1.80 km and Elfyn set the pace, eclipsing Seb and Thierry. We finally had a different stage winner, but to be honest these kinds of stages are complete nonsense, and not rallying.

Anyway, let’s take a look at the top positions and hear from the drivers.

Classification after Day Two

1	K. Rovanperä	J. Halttunen	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	2:22:17.3
2	S. Ogier	V. Landais	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+45.2
3	E. Evans	S. Martin	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+1:08.1
4	T. Katsuta	A. Johnston	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+1:43.9
5	A. Fourmaux	A. Coria	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	+2:09.6
6	T. Neuville	M. Wydaeghe	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	+2:15.2
7	O. Tänak	M. Järveoja	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	+2:37.3
8	Y. Rossel	A. Dunand	Citroën C3	+5:45.9
9	A. Cachón	B. Rozada	Toyota GR Yaris	+6:04.7
10	J. McErlean	E. Treacy	Ford Puma Rally1	+6:12.3

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Kalle Rovanperä

“Everything has been going really well again today. The stages had a bit of a different style to yesterday and in the first two I was maybe not so comfortable, but I really enjoyed the third one that was more flowing. The afternoon was especially good: we made some really small changes to the car, and it felt even better, which was nice. I hope we can have the same feeling tomorrow and that everything continues to come comfortably, because we would need to try and take as many points as we can.”

Sébastien Ogier

“It’s been good fun to drive the car on these beautiful roads again today. Again, Kalle has had something more than the rest of us, but I could achieve my main target to be secure in P2. We have been making some good adjustments on the car and the balance has been suiting me better and better. Now we need to continue like this tomorrow, which will be an important day because we need to make use of this pace and collect some more points for the team.”

Elfyn Evans

“This morning the car felt a bit better than yesterday, but we didn’t really seem to gain any time from it. It’s been a bit frustrating not to be fighting closer to the front, but Kalle and Seb have just been a bit faster than us. We were trying to be clean, and the pace was OK. We will try to improve and be ready for tomorrow. You have to try to grab every opportunity for points, so we just have to focus on driving well, doing a good job and trying to bring home some points.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“Today was much better than yesterday. We definitely made a step forward. I was quite happy with the car. I feel sorry for Sami that he had to stop because he was doing a very good job. Now I just need to keep focused tomorrow from the first stage and keep pushing. I hope to find a bit more comfort and a bit more pace, but I don’t think we need to change too much.”

Sami Pajari

“We were having another nice and clean day. The pace was coming naturally, and it was enjoyable in the car. Unfortunately, in SS12 we were a bit too fast in one long corner. I’m not sure what happened because I think I did the same that I did in the morning, but we simply had too much speed and hit the fence. It’s always a pity if things go this way but if we are starting to match the times of the top drivers, then things like this can happen easily. We just need to get back out there tomorrow and try to continue where we left off.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Adrien Fourmaux

“We are still missing some performance, but I was really enjoying this afternoon when the balance was ok on the stages. We don’t really know what to expect tomorrow; it will be a big challenge for us. Everything has to go perfect, and while there are a few things we could change, it is also a gamble. We are certainly going to try everything we can to score as many points as possible.”

Thierry Neuville

“This afternoon went much better than this morning; we had a good balance with the car, and I was starting to enjoy my driving. I think we’ve done a good job, and I’m satisfied with it. While we never stop hoping that we can make up more positions, realistically it will be very difficult to do that tomorrow, but we are going to go for points – there is still a lot to play for.”

Ott Tänak

“The first stage of the loops was the most tricky today, but it was possible to slightly enjoy the second and third stages. The roads are really nice to drive on the inside of the car, although the story from the outside is quite different. We were blind testing some changes, but the engineers had some good ideas, and step by step we were making some improvements.”

 

Oliver Solberg

“What a stage and what a day that was,” smiled the 23-year-old on Saturday night.

“The atmosphere in that final stage – especially the section inside the Arena – was something else. I think everybody knows I love doing a donut, so the chance to do a couple in front of a packed crowd on a basketball court was super cool!

“The rest of the day has been good. We’ve achieved what we wanted: we’re learning lots about this car and what it can do on dry Tarmac. I’m pleased with the progress we’re making – of course we’re not running for points in WRC2 and we’re not at the maximum speed, but we’re taking lots of experience.”

 

Sunday

The final day will see the crew tackle 58km’s over five stages. Kalle looks likely to take his first victory of the year, whilst his teammate, Elfyn is likely to extend his lead in the world championship over his closest rival Thierry.

Let’s see what happens.

The first full day in the fourth round of the championship saw Toyota drivers dominate the timesheets on the six stages, whilst the Hyundai crews really struggle. Here’s the story of the today’s action.

First stage, SS1 Valsequillo – Telde 1 – 26.32 km and Kalle was fastest from Elfyn and Seb. The best of the Hyundai crews was Adrien in fourth and almost 13 seconds from the leader. Thierry was even further off the pace at almost 20 seconds away from the leader and in eighth place. It was not a good start for the Belgian crew.

Into SS2 Valleseco – Artenara 1 – 15.27 km and this stage had some interesting conditions, with very low cloud around the middle part of the stage covering the road and some damp spots on the road. Some crews had taken soft tyres in the hope that it would give better grip. Kalle again set the pace from Seb and Elfyn. Seb moved past Elfyn and into second overall. Further back Sami was on the move passing Takamoto and Ott and moved into fifth overall. Meanwhile Thierry continued to struggle and dropped a further 16 seconds back.

The final morning stage then, SS3 La Aldea – Mogán 1 – 17.83 km and Kalle made it three out of three winning this stage from Seb and Elfyn. Adrien remained the top Hyundai driver yet was 34 seconds from Kalle. Takamoto moved up one position to sixth place passing Ott.

After the service break came SS4 Valsequillo – Telde 2 – 26.32 km and Kalle picked up where he left off with the fastest time from Seb and Elfyn third fastest. Sami was also finding the pace out there setting the fourth best time and this took him past Adrien and into fourth overall. Meanwhile Thierry was now almost a minute from the leader. It was really not going well for the driver who was hoping for so much more.

Kalle continued to dominate the timesheets winning SS5 Valleseco – Artenara 2 – 15.27 km from Elfyn and Seb. Takamoto moved up into fifth place with Adrien losing another position as a result. Thierry was a little closer to the pace at the front, yet still remained slower and over a minute behind Kalle.

The final stage then of the day, SS6 La Aldea – Mogán 2 – 17.83 km and it was a clean sweep of stage wins for Toyota and Kalle. Seb and Sami were second and third, whilst championship leader Elfyn was fourth in the stage but was firmly in third overall, a good twenty seconds ahead of Sami.

Let’s take a look at the top positions and hear from the drivers.

Classification after Day One

1	K. Rovanperä	J. Halttunen	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	1:10:31.8
2	S. Ogier	V. Landais	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+26.8
3	E. Evans	S. Martin	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+36.4
4	S. Pajari	M. Salminen	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+55.3
5	T. Katsuta	A. Johnston	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+1:06.0
6	T. Neuville	M. Wydaeghe	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	+1:13.3
7	O. Tänak	M. Järveoja	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	+1:14.1
8	A. Fourmaux	A. Coria	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	+1:14.8
9	G. Munster	L. Louka	Ford Puma Rally1	+2:11.1
10	Y. Rossel	A. Dunand	Citroën C3	+2:50.7

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Kalle Rovanperä

“I’m really happy with today. Everything came together well, and it’s been a super day for the team overall. It seems we have done our preparation well and it meant we could just enjoy the driving and do a good job. The car is fast, I’m happy with the balance and I can drive it like I want, and our pacenotes have been good as well. Some sections of tomorrow’s stages will be a bit different in character to today, so we need to keep focused, see if we can make the car even better, and try to keep this up.”

Sébastien Ogier

“It’s been a very positive day for the whole team. To fill the top five places after day one is pretty impressive, so well done to our engineers and mechanics for the hard work, adapting to the new tyres as best as we can. Of course, I’m never 100 per cent happy to be second but Kalle was really flying today and there was no way we could match his pace. I think we made some improvements this afternoon in terms of feeling and pace, and we still have some ideas for tomorrow.”

Elfyn Evans

“It’s definitely been a great day for the team today. They’ve done a really good job preparing for this rally. On a personal note, I’m maybe not entirely satisfied and could have done with finding a bit more confidence with the car and a few more seconds to fight with Kalle and Seb, who have been doing a great job. I’m not quite able to follow them at the moment but we’ll try a few changes tonight. Tomorrow’s stages are maybe a bit more abrasive, so it could be a bit more difficult for the tyres, and we have to see what the weather does too.”

Sami Pajari

“Today has been really good and the position we’re in as a team at the end of it is very nice. Personally, I was not completely happy in the morning but then stage-by-stage the feeling has been getting better. In the afternoon we found quite a nice flow, and the times were even more competitive. Of course, when there’s still a bit of a gap to the front, then I’m always thinking about what we can improve so let’s see what we can do for tomorrow.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“It’s been a very nice day for the team. It’s an amazing effort by everybody in preparing the car for our first time here with the WRC. Personally, I’m not completely happy with myself and seem to be missing something, so I just need to improve the speed a little bit. I’m not able to be quite as smooth as you need to be on this kind of rally. Already in the afternoon we changed a few things, and it went in a better direction and hopefully we can find something more for tomorrow.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“It is a struggle to find positives from today; it has been tough, and a hard one to swallow. It was difficult to keep our motivation high, but we kept fighting. Martijn and I tried to work on the car between every stage, and we were able to gain two places. We are constantly improving bit by bit, and this afternoon with a bit of adapting to my driving style I was making it work, but we will need to fight for every position tomorrow and Sunday.”

Ott Tänak

“It is very difficult to enjoy the stages when you’re fighting so much out there, especially when you are down on speed and struggling to get the car working on these very specific roads. I think it’s a simple problem, but one that is difficult to fix. There’s not much we can do with the suspension or transmission, but we will try to find a way to be in a better position for Sunday.”

Adrien Fourmaux

“This morning was not perfect, but it was much better than this afternoon. I made a change to the set-up of the car to try and find more grip, but it really changes the balance. I was struggling with understeer that I didn’t have on the first loop, and I started to overheat the tyres. It’s frustrating to see the gap to the cars ahead, so as a team we will try to move in the right direction for the next two days.”

 

Oliver Solberg

“Today’s been a good day for learning – and that’s why we’re here on this event. We don’t take points in WRC2 from Spain, it’s all about understanding more from the car in Tarmac set-up.

“This morning I wasn’t able to take so much confidence from the car and we were still getting used to the new Hankook tyres. We made some changes at lunchtime service, and we were much happier straight away in the first stage of the afternoon.

“Launching the car off the line on the second stage [of the afternoon] we felt some issue with the transmission. We didn’t want to cause more damage, so we drove at reduced pace through the last two.

“I’m sure the team will be able to get everything sorted tonight, so we can come back for some more learning tomorrow.”

 

Saturday

The second day will see the crews tackle 124km’s over seven stages. Can the Hyundai crews fight back, or will we see the Toyota crews continue to dominate the top of the timesheets?

Time for the fourth round then as the crews head to this first running of this rally in the WRC. This is also going to be the forty-ninth time it has been run and will be a big challenge for the top rally crews in the world. They are definitely going to have fun on these roads.

In terms for the kilometres facing the crews over the three days of competition this round has 301km’s over eighteen stages. Saturday is the longest day of the rally with 124km’s over seven stages.

Let’s take a look at the stages and hear from the drivers.

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“We’ve had a good run of rallies to start the season, but it changes nothing really for me in terms of approach: we just want to go and have a good rally and achieve the best result possible. In terms of character, we can expect the stages to be generally very clean and quite twisty. The majority of asphalt rallies we’ve had in the championship over recent years have been more on the dirtier side and we’ve missed the variety of a proper racing-style rally like this. With very little cutting, road position shouldn’t have a huge bearing, so I don’t think it will be much of an advantage to be running first if at all; I suspect it should be similar conditions for everybody and a fair fight.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“It’s exciting to be going to a new asphalt rally which looks to be quite different to the others we usually do. From what I’ve seen of the ERC event, it seems to be a really nice rally with good, stable conditions, which should be really enjoyable. It’s also going to be quite a challenge going there for the first time and making new pacenotes for roads like those, where I think you will really need to be on-point everywhere to be fast. We made some good progress in our test in Spain last week and have a better feeling on asphalt. We’ve had a few tricky rallies lately so we’re definitely looking to turn things around and have a good finish hopefully.”

Sébastien Ogier

“It’s always an exciting feeling to go to a new rally. It’s almost like the essence of rallying, where nobody knows the roads and you need to start from scratch. We will have a very demanding recce discovering all the stages, and making good pacenotes will be crucial to be quick on this rally. It’s a situation that has suited me well in the past and I hope I can still do it well and fight for the top positions. From what I’ve seen, the roads look very beautiful, but I also know that on an island in the Atlantic, the weather can change very quickly. It’s going to be nice to be back on these kind of high-grip, circuit-style stages, and I hope we can be in the mix and fighting for the win.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“From what I’ve heard from other drivers, Rally Islas Canarias is one of the nicest asphalt rallies so I’m really looking forward to it. It’s very much a pure asphalt rally with not much cutting or dirt on the road, and in these conditions we can really enjoy the maximum performance of the car and the aerodynamics. It kind of reminds me of my previous experience in circuit racing, and hopefully this can help me to perform well. At the same time, we will again have some new tyres for this rally, and we will need to see how they are performing on those stages and try to adapt as best as we can.”

Sami Pajari

“To go from Kenya to the Canaries is maybe the biggest contrast we can have between two rallies in the championship. I did the rally four years ago with a Rally4 car and I really liked it; it’s one of the rallies which is closest to circuit racing. Some of the stages especially are nice and wide with a good clean surface and not much cutting. I had a nice test last week with both dry and wet conditions and felt really good behind the wheel. In Kenya the idea was to avoid issues which was key to our result; here there should be less that can go wrong, and I hope it can be an enjoyable rally for us.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“It’s hard to remember the last time I competed at Rally Islas Canarias, but it was a rally I enjoyed. Many parts of the route have been reworked, resurfaced and widened, so I don’t think there is much experience I can take from 2010 and 2011 into the weekend. At a test event we contested recently, we had a good mixture of grip, precision and performance, so we are feeling more comfortable with the car on tarmac. We had a great result at Safari Rally Kenya; nevertheless, it was still a demanding event – probably one of the most demanding of the year. I think the momentum we need for this event is there, and we have everything we need in the car, so I think we will perform well. We are targeting a victory, of course – we need to beat Evans to close that gap in both championships.”

Ott Tanak

“A brand-new event is a different of challenge for us – it’s never easy or straightforward – and Rally Islas Canarias is no different. We don’t have any experience of this rally, so we will be searching for maximum performance while still discovering the roads. It’s about a close to circuit racing as rallying gets. This will be the most challenging tarmac round of the year to get right; we need to make sure the car has the right setup and great balance to get a good feeling across the flowing, smooth roads without degrading the tyres too quickly. We’re going to Gran Canaria to compete at the very top, targeting a podium finish. In rallying it’s always hard to predict how it’s going to be, but we will do everything from our side to be competitive.”

Adrien Fourmaux

“Having competed at Rally Islas Canarias in 2020, some of the stages will be quite familiar to me. I know what the grip is like when it’s dry and when it’s wet, so this sets us up well for all possibilities. This event is a pure tarmac rally, so precision is required across the pace notes, the lines we are taking on the stages and managing the tyres. It’s completely different on this surface; really reactive. The transition from gravel to tarmac can feel like driving a completely different car and the g-force we take can be a lot. The aim is to deliver as strong result as we can – I would like to get back on the podium, or even take it one step further.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Grégoire Munster

“I’m really looking forward to Gran Canaria! We didn’t really have an event like this on Tarmac last year that was like proper racing, with a really stiff car, wide roads and high grip, so I’m excited to try to push the car to the maximum on these roads. We have such a variety of events in the championship, for example going from the icy Monte stages to Sweden and then Kenya, and this is now our first proper tarmac event in 2025.

“We need to have perfect pace notes and I’m looking forward to getting out on the stages. Hopefully the weather will be better than it is in Belgium!”

Josh McErlean

“Monte Carlo gave me my first taste of what a Rally1 car can do on a sealed surface, but Rally Islas Canarias is different, it’s full on, proper, smooth tarmac. The goal this weekend is to build on what I learned there from Monte—really trusting the aero, downforce and grip these cars can create. These roads demand precision and commitment, and I’m excited for that.”

Romet Jürgenson

“Our successful weekend in the BRC definitely gives us great confidence moving forward, especially on gravel. But I think now going to Canaries for my first WRC2 Tarmac rally, on Hankook tyres as well, there will be a lot to learn.

“Especially looking at the entry list, there are a lot of experienced and fast drivers, so I will be keeping both feet on the ground and just hope for a good, solid rally where we can develop our driving. If we can improve our speed throughout the event, and fight with the top guys in some places, I think that will be mission accomplished. We just want to get all the experience possible.”

 

WRC2

Oliver Solberg

“It’s incredible that it’s already five years ago that we drove there,” said Oliver. “I have some good memories for this event, lots of really nice people and passionate fans – like always in Spain. But I also remember quite difficult stages and surface conditions.

“When the conditions were quite inconsistent, with the rain coming and the road drying or changing, it was not easy to read the level of grip from corner to corner. This is an island in the middle of the Atlantic, so the weather can change really quickly, we need to be ready for that to make the right choice of tyres.”

“Obviously we drove Monte Carlo in January and the car was running asphalt-spec tyres for most of the time,” added Oliver. “But that’s quite different – the car is set-up different for Monte, a little bit softer. OK, you can understand something for the tyres, but it’s going to be 20 degrees warmer here and that makes a big difference.

“We have done some testing, so we have some idea for what’s coming. As well as that, we have been doing some development testing with Toyota for the gravel. I really enjoyed that, it’s great to be getting some good seat time in such a cool car!”

Summary

We are set for a great rally on these all-new roads for the championship. Of course, Elfyn and Scott will be opening the road throughout the first full day of action. Their main rivals, Thierry and Martijn will hope that they can take the fight to the championship leaders in their attempt to retain their crown.

Elsewhere we see the return of Seb and Vincent to the championship meaning we’ll see five Toyota GR Yaris on the stages! Could we see them take a podium? It is possible.

Meanwhile at M-Sport Ford their young crew will continue to learn and develop. We know that the Puma is quick. Could we see a surprise result for Greg and his co-driver Louis or Josh and Eoin? Let’s wait and see!

Just a few stages left then to decide this seasons Safari Rally. Adrien and Alex returned to the action in their Hyundai and would open the road throughout the six stages. There would be extra points to grab for the final day as well.

First up was SS17 Mzabibu 2 – 8.27 km and Ott was fastest from Thierry and Kalle. Rally leader Elfyn was fourth and just bringing it home holding a one minute and fifty-one second lead over Ott. Worthy mention for Oliver in his Rally2 Yaris who was fifth fastest and ahead of a few Rally1 cars. This was impressive! Despite Kalle’s good pace he’s suffered another puncture. He also needed to change a part in the engine bay following the stage.

Onto SS18 Oserengoni 1 – 18.33 km and before the stage started we had a retirement in the shape of Kalle as he did not make it to the start of the stage. Takamoto was fastest from Adrien and Thierry. With the retirement of Kalle, Sami moved into fifth place.

Time then for stage SS19 Hell’s Gate 1 – 10.53 km and Adrien was fastest from Thierry and Takamoto. You could tell that this was not just a normal stage as Josh had a close call with a herd of zebra! The Irishman did well to finish the stage in sixth and continued to hold eleventh overall.

After a short service break came SS20 Oserengoni 2 – 18.33 km and Takamoto was fastest in this one from Adrien and Thierry. Elfyn continued to hold the top spot and just had one stage left.

Into SS21 Hell’s Gate 2[Power Stage] – 10.53 km and Adrien set the pace in this one from Thierry, Ott was third, Greg fourth and Sami fifth. There was drama for Takamoto early in the stage as he spun on a right-hander leading to a slow roll. Thankfully there were a few spectators nearby and once the car was back on it’s wheels they got underway again. They completed the stage, but there were huge questions about the possibility he would make it back to the service park. The car was not working well at all. All of this meant that Sami was now into fourth place. The podium looked like this however with Thierry third, Ott in second and Elfyn took victory, the first for a Brit since Colin won for Ford in 2002.

Let’s take a look at the finishing positions and hear from the drivers.

Safari Rally Kenya Final Classification

1	E. Evans	S. Martin	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	4:20:03.8
2	O. Tänak	M. Järveoja	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	+1:09.9
3	T. Neuville	M. Wydaeghe	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	+3:32.0
4	S. Pajari	M. Salminen	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+7:18.7
5	G. Munster	L. Louka	Ford Puma Rally1	+11:35.3
6	G. Greensmith	J. Andersson	Škoda Fabia RS	+14:11.6
7	J. Solans	R. Sanjuan	Toyota GR Yaris	+17:26.6
8	J. Serderidis	F. Miclotte	Ford Puma Rally1	+28:45.5
9	F. Zaldivar	M. Der Ohannesian	Škoda Fabia RS	+35:38.8
10	J. McErlean	E. Treacy	Ford Puma Rally1	+37:15.8

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“It’s amazing to have won this rally. It’s not quite sunk in fully yet but the Safari Rally is a special event to win. A huge well done to the team, who work very hard to give us an amazing car, and I’m proud to be a very small part of Toyota’s great history on this rally. It’s been a massively demanding weekend, probably the most extreme Safari we’ve seen since we’ve been coming here, and the weather added an extra twist on Saturday. It was not easy to manage the final day, having quite a big lead and needing to bring it home. There was the temptation of extra points to play for on Sunday, but in the circumstances it was important to get the car to the finish, and I’m very happy at the end of it.”

Sami Pajari

“It is really a big relief to cross the finish line, which was our only plan for the whole rally. It has been quite a long week, from the recce and through four days of rallying. It can be quite exhausting, but we managed it quite well. There were no big mistakes or issues, which is exactly what we wanted from this event, so I can be super pleased with that. I’m happy for the team to have won this rally once again and with the experience we gained here, we can be even stronger next time.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“It has been a difficult weekend, but we hoped to still try and take some good points from the final day. Everything was fine in the first stage this morning but on the road section to the next stage, we started to see some electrical issues on the car. We tried to fix them, but we couldn’t make it happen in the end and we had to retire from the rally. It’s really disappointing to leave without any points, but we will go again in the next rally.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“I’m devastated to end the rally in this way. Near the start of the Power Stage, we had a half spin, we caught the inside bank and then we started to roll. It was a very unexpected thing, and I don’t know exactly what happened. It has been a very difficult rally and of course I had to try to push, and this kind of thing can always happen. But I’m just very, very sorry for the team.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Ott Tänak

“Really happy with the result today. A difficult and demanding weekend, but we are happy to bring both cars safely home on the podium. Our chances of victory went on Friday, but after that we kept it clean and now we’ve scored strong points on Sunday. There’s a lot of positives to take from this weekend. Really thankful to the team and the mechanics for keeping us in the game, there was never an easy service so a massive thank you to them. The cars were really put on the limit, but the team has improved the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 and its reliability – we’ve been moving in a really good direction since Friday.”

Thierry Neuville

“We can breathe now; it was a very stressful day today, always thinking something could break. I think we have been rewarded for our hard work on Friday and Saturday. It was an enormous job between stages for me and Martijn fixing the car, and the team always had a massive job to fix it at every service. But we never gave up, even when things were looking bad, and that paid off. We finally got the result we deserved.”

Adrien Fourmaux  

“A really tough weekend for us with the technical issues that started on Thursday, which was difficult to accept. I’m very proud of our performance on the stages today; we have scored some good points, and it is really positive to come home with those after a difficult event. I’d like to thank the team for giving me such a strong car today that allowed me to fight for maximum Power Stage and Super Sunday points.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Grégoire Munster

“I wanted to do well for my grandfather this weekend. It didn’t start too well on Friday, we encountered so many issues between brakes, engine overheating, the steering arm, punctures and of course the gearbox on Sunday too.

“But we never gave up and that was the only thing I wanted to do, to finish the rally, and apparently with Taka retiring we will be in the top five, so we’ve come a really long way this weekend. We wanted to start the season how we ended last year, and I’m really happy we managed to secure that top five finish here in Kenya.”

Jourdan Serderidis

“It was very good because we have a top result here, ninth overall against those top guys is great, especially considering the conditions. It has been very difficult, the first and the second days with the rain were completely different but really challenging. We survived well, showed some pace as well, but we didn’t push too much when there were no reasons to anyway – we already had a good result.

“It’s been a great weekend with M-Sport, the three crews getting to the end has been nice. With the help of Romet [Jürgenson] as well, we have had a fantastic team.”

Josh McErlean

“It’s been quite crazy, quite surreal. Honestly, it’s really nice to get to the finish. Okay, we had our problems, but we persevered and made it through.

“You have to come to Safari Rally and expect these conditions, it’s part of what it’s about. Not only that but the people and everyone involved, from the organisers to the teams, it’s a huge effort to come out here and put on a show as a non-European event, it’s such a huge spectacle so congratulations to everyone for making it happen.”

 

Oliver Solberg (WRC2)

“It’s definitely a little bit of a bitter-sweet feeling. “Getting stuck in the fech fech on Friday was so disappointing. There was literally nothing we could do about it; we were the first Rally2 car into that section. That’s it, sometimes this is the way the sport is working.

“The positive we can take away from here is the pace we showed and to know that none of us could have done any more than we did. Honestly, I feel like me, Elliott and the team deserved this one. Like I said, sometimes it doesn’t go this way.

“This was the first time we drove the Yaris on gravel, and I have to say I was really impressed. I want to say a big thank you to everybody in the Printsport team and, of course, to Elliott. We know this event is probably the toughest of the year and we definitely felt that again this time.

“We did everything we could, we won a lot of stages and took some points, but now we look ahead to the next event in Spain. It’s always such a big pleasure to come here and drive these roads and to spend time in such a special country with such incredible fans. I love this place and these people.

“And next time, I will come back even more determined to win!”

 

2025 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round 3

1	E. Evans	88
2	T. Neuville	52
3	O. Tänak	49
4	S. Ogier	33
5	A. Fourmaux	31
6	K. Rovanperä	31
7	T. Katsuta	25
8	S. Pajari	19
9	G. Munster	14
10	M. Sesks	8

 

2025 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round 3

1	Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team	148
2	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	122
3	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	47
4	Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team 2	25

 

Summary

Well, what a fantastic rally this was. It had everything out there – fast flowing stages, tricky sections with huge rocks and also huge rain.

 

Elfyn and Scott conquered these conditions with a fantastic drive to their first win in Kenya. They set the pace required to take the lead and in the stages which were tricky they got through at the right pace and safe approach. With this win and the second this year, they now have thirty-six-point lead over the second placed crew in the championship, Thierry and Martijn.

 

Ott and Martin took second overall after a drive which saw them lead and have a big lead before issues with the driveshaft on one corner of the lost them time on the following two stages. They took the most stage wins as well and second place as well. It was a good recovery drive.

 

Thierry and Martijn did what they could out on the challenging stages dealing with technical problems with their car and somehow made it to the final podium place. It was a drive which was typical of the Belgian pair, getting something from a rally which could have finished in a very different way.

 

 

Looking ahead to the next rally which will be held called Rally Islas Canarias over the weekend of the 24 April to 27 April.

Onto the second full day then and the crews had 146km’s over six stages ahead of them. Adrien would not return as the Hyundai team decided to save his car for Sunday’s stages. This would mean Jourdan and Fred would open the road thought the day.

First up then was SS11 Sleeping Warrior 1 – 26.97 km and Elfyn would set the fastest time from Kalle and Takamoto. The three Toyota’s were making a very good start to the day’s stages. Elfyn had increased his lead over Kalle to almost 16 seconds. At Hyundai and M-Sport the crews all had either tyre or steering problems.

Onto SS12 Elmenteita 1 – 17.31 km and it was a top three fastest again for Toyota as Elfyn was fastest from Takamoto and Kalle. Kalle lost some more time to Elfyn as one of his tyres came off the rim of the wheel. It was a tricky stage as some sections had mud and standing water.

The final stage of the morning then, SS13 Soysambu 1 – 28.97 km and Takamoto was fastest from Ott and Elfyn. Kalle had yet more problems with tyres with another puncture. The result of this was that he lost one minute and twenty seconds and was still in second and now a minute and thirty-two seconds from Elfyn who was clearing the stages with no problems.

The afternoon stages started with SS14 Sleeping Warrior 2 – 26.97 km and the rain had hit the stage right as the first crews were starting. This meant the earlier crews would have more favourable conditions. Ultimately Takamoto would set the fastest time from Kalle and Elfyn. There was some more drama for Kalle as he suffered with broken rear left suspension though. Ott lost more time in this one and now Takamoto was only around sixteen seconds from him.

Next up was SS15 Elmenteita 2 – 17.31 km and yet more rain hit this stage. The two Pumas’ were able to take advantage of their early starting time and Greg won the stage with Josh second fastest. Sami was the highest placed Toyota with the fourth fastest time. Kalle took it very easy through the stage, protecting the rear left suspension which he and Jonna had made a temporary repair too on the road section. Kalle dropped from the podium and into fourth with Ott now second and Takamoto third. Greg’s stage winning pace took him up two positions and into seventh overall.

Time then for the final stage of the day then, SS16 Soysambu 2 – 28.97 km and there was more rain for all the crews in this one. Ott made the best of the conditions and set the fastest time from Thierry and incredibly Oliver was third in his Yaris Rally2. What a drive!

Let’s take a look at the top positions and hear from the drivers.

Classification after Day Two

1	E. Evans	S. Martin	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	3:38:39.3
2	O. Tänak	M. Järveoja	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	+1:57.4
3	T. Neuville	M. Wydaeghe	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	+4:33.4
4	T. Katsuta	A. Johnston	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+5:06.6
5	K. Rovanperä	J. Halttunen	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+6:06.0
6	S. Pajari	M. Salminen	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+7:00.4
7	G. Munster	L. Louka	Ford Puma Rally1	+11:02.0
8	G. Greensmith	J. Andersson	Škoda Fabia RS	+12:08.3
9	J. Solans	R. Sanjuan	Toyota GR Yaris	+12:14.1
10	J. Serderidis	F. Miclotte	Ford Puma Rally1	+24:39.1

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“It’s been remarkably difficult out there today. This has definitely been a proper Safari. Even this morning the conditions were really quite tricky after a lot of rain overnight. Then the rain came again immediately as we started the afternoon loop. The conditions were horribly inconsistent, and I was trying to treat everything with care but it’s easy to drop a lot of time. I couldn’t see much at all at the end with so much mud, but I’m happy we managed to get through it. Even with this gap, nothing is guaranteed on this rally. Tomorrow will be demanding and rough and anything can still happen, so we need to stay focused.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“Today was not an easy day for us. It started well this morning but then we had some bad luck with some punctures, and the afternoon was even worse; in Sleeping Warrior we hit a big loose stone in a muddy section, and it broke something in the suspension. We tried to make a small fix before each stage, and although it didn’t last we could at least get through the stages and get back to service. It’s still a long day ahead tomorrow with some tricky stages and a lot of points available, and we’ll do the best we can.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“It has been a really frustrating day. The last two days have been tough for me with sickness, but the team has been supporting me well and I’ve been able to keep driving. The pace was there, and I was enjoying the driving and doing some good times. It was really disappointing to lose time with the punctures, but there are still five more stages to go. Just over 30 seconds to the podium is not so much on a rally like this, so we will keep pushing and see what happens.”

Sami Pajari

“Today was extremely tricky with a lot of learning. Already this morning we faced some very different challenges to yesterday, with a lot of wet and muddy places and it was tricky for me to predict the grip, or to know exactly what speed you can carry and what line to take. This afternoon the conditions were even tougher, but the pace was better which was nice to see. I could see some improvement in my driving even in the extreme conditions, and with every kilometre the feeling is getting better.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Ott Tänak

“There has been a lot of action today, especially this afternoon – it was proper wet and tricky conditions. Unfortunately, we had some trouble with the windscreen again and water in the car, which made it a very demanding loop. The conditions changes from stage to stage, so you never really know what you are going to find. There is always a new challenge you need to fight and overcome. Tomorrow should be smoother, but the roads are still very rough in places.”

Thierry Neuville

“Today has been challenging – it’s hard to describe just how tough it has been out there today, for several reasons. I wasn’t feeling well at all after a bad night and struggled to keep my concentration and do my job, but we kept fighting and we were rewarded with third place overnight. Those were some extreme conditions this afternoon – I haven’t seen anything like it in my career. We’ve had some rough Safari Rally Kenya’s in the past, but this is the roughest so far.”

Oliver Solberg (WRC2)

“Yesterday was tough. We did nothing wrong – I wouldn’t usually talk about luck, but I think we were unlucky to be the first car finding this fesh fesh. Today we came back to drive sensibly, stay in the middle of the road and take no risks. It was nice to be able to push a little bit harder where it was possible and winning Soysambu at the end was a good way to finish Saturday.

“Let’s see what Sunday brings. This is the Safari; it’s such a huge challenge and it will stay that way all the way to the final metre.”

Sunday

The final day then and anything can still happen. Let’s see if Elfyn and Scott can take victory in Kenya and be the first Brits to do this since Colin in 2002.

 

Six stages remain with a total of 65.99km’s.

Coming into the first full day of action there’d been two stages to start this year’s rally on Thursday. We had a top three which was Ott from Takamoto and Greg. In addition the top five were covered by just four and a half seconds.

First up then was SS3 Camp Moran 1 – 31.40 km and Ott was fastest from Thierry and Elfyn. The Welshman’s pace took him up three positions and into second overall, whilst Kalle moved into third. Ott now had a 13.1 second lead over his former M-Sport teammate.

Next came SS4 Loldia 1 – 19.11 km and Ott was again setting the pace from Thierry and Elfyn third. At this point there were three Hyundai’s in the top four fastest times. Setting good pace in his Puma was Josh who was holding fourth overall as his teammate fell nine positions to thirteenth overall.

The penultimate stage of the morning loop came next, SS5 Kengen Geothermal 1 – 13.18 km and Kalle was fastest from Thierry and Ott. Elfyn was sixth fastest and saw the gap to Ott grow to 19.3 seconds whilst Kalle was now 44.1 behind and holding third. Thierry was on the move up the leaderboard, past Josh and into fourth.

Onto the final morning stage then, SS6 Kedong 1 – 15.10 km with service to follow and Ott was fastest from Kalle and Elfyn. Further back Takamoto was gaining positions moving into seventh overall. He was climbing the field after his earlier puncture in the first stage of the day.

Into the afternoon stages then with a repeat of the morning loop and in the same order, first up was SS7 Camp Moran 2 – 31.40 km and Thierry took a stage win from Ott and Kalle. Takamoto was climbing some more passing Josh for fifth place. Also gaining quite a few positions was Sami in the fourth Toyota and he’d gained four positions thus moving into seventh overall. We lost Adrien in this one as the Frenchman tried to complete the stage with a puncture and ended up heavily damaging his front right suspension. He could not continue sadly and was out for the rest of the day.

Next up was SS8 Loldia 2 – 19.11 km and Ott was again fastest from Elfyn this time with Thierry third. Sami gained another position moving into sixth place overall. Ott now held a 46.1 second lead over Elfyn. This was some drive from the Estonian.

It was all change though at the end of SS9 Kengen Geothermal 2 – 13.18 km as the leading Hyundai suffered what would turn out to be a driveshaft problem the result being he’d lose over a minute on just this one stage and emerged 16.8 seconds behind new leader Elfyn and now in third overall. Kalle who was fastest in the stage from Elfyn was now second overall. Takamoto suffered a second puncture of the day.

Onto the final stage of the day then, SS10 Kedong 2 – 15.10 km and how would Ott get on? Well, it helped that he and Martin would be able to remove the driveshaft which had failed meaning he could push a bit more. He was twelfth fastest which doesn’t sound great but managed to keep the time loss down to 42 seconds meaning he’d keep third overall. Kalle won the stage from Takamoto and Elfyn.

Let’s take a look at the top positions and hear from the drivers.

Classification after Day One

1 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 2:00:45.4 2 K. Rovanperä J. Halttunen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +7.7 3 O. Tänak M. Järveoja Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +55.4 4 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +1:31.4 5 T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +3:26.4 6 S. Pajari M. Salminen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +4:19.1 7 J. McErlean E. Treacy Ford Puma Rally1 +5:35.4 8 K. Kajetanowicz M. Szczepaniak Toyota GR Yaris +5:53.8 9 G. Greensmith J. Andersson Škoda Fabia RS +6:04.4 10 J. Solans R. Sanjuan Toyota GR Yaris +6:34.1

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“It’s been a clean and strong day for us. Maybe we were not always the fastest, but I’m happy to be at the end of the day with no trouble. It was a tough day, and this first stage of the loop was especially rough; the chance of damage was high with so many loose rocks. We definitely erred on the side of caution in places and that seems to have paid off, but there’s still a very long way to go. It can be a bit frustrating when you feel that you can go a bit faster and take more risk, but I just keep reminding myself where we are. Tomorrow might be slightly shorter but it’s still not going to be an easy day.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“It has been a good day. The morning could have been better as I was losing some time in the more narrow and technical roads in the first two stages, but when we went to the faster stages it was much better and I had a really good feeling. The afternoon was much better overall. The conditions were really tough, but we were able to take care of the car like we planned: it’s always important on this rally to manage your pace and stick to your plan. You can go quicker but you can run into trouble easily. Tomorrow the stages have a different style, and the weather could play a big part too.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“The day started badly in the first long stage this morning with a lot of rocks, and we got a double puncture. It was very frustrating, and we had no spares left for the rest of the morning, so we had to be very careful, but we managed to get through it and back to service. This afternoon was even rougher, and we were trying to avoid mistakes. Unfortunately, we got another puncture but the pace when I pushed was quite OK and the feeling is nice in the car. There’s still two days to go, which is a long way in this rally, and everything is still possible.”

Sami Pajari

“We knew that today would be challenging and it was the case already in the first stage this morning, where we stopped to change a tyre and again got a stone to the windscreen somehow. But we were able to regather ourselves with a couple of clean stages to end the morning, and then the afternoon was really good. The car is working really nicely with no issues and the times are also pretty solid, so I can be happy with that. I’m getting more used to the conditions and reading the changes in the road, and I’m starting to understand where I can push and where I need to be cautious, so it’s a good feeling to end the day.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Ott Tänak

“At the end of the second stage of the afternoon, I noticed we had a driveline issue, but we managed to finish the stage. We then realised it was an issue with the driveshaft, but we were unable to remove it before the penultimate stage, so we had to drive through it carefully to stop it from damaging the engine. Luckily, we managed to remove it for the final stage, so we didn’t have to nurse it. We will try to come back tomorrow but we know it’s rough, its demanding and its hard on the car.”

Thierry Neuville

“It has been a really challenging day, but we were giving our best. We had some cooling issues this afternoon that we tried to fix by dismantling the whole front end of the car and putting it back together, but it didn’t work as well as we wanted it to, so we had to take care on the stages. It was extreme conditions, but we are happy to be here at the end of a difficult day. If we take away our penalties and the time we lost from the puncture, we would have been leading the rally today, but it is what it is and there is still a long way to go.”

Adrien Fourmaux

“I was happy with the car and the balance today, and I was being careful in the rocky places but then pushing where I knew I could.  I was feeling really comfortable but then everything went wrong this afternoon. We had a slow puncture, so we managed to continue for a few kilometres before the tyre started deflating, then in the fesh-fesh I didn’t see a rock and we had a big impact which broke the suspension. It is frustrating and we should have stopped to change the puncture, but it is easy to say this in hindsight. We will come back fighting tomorrow and target Super Sunday points.”

 

Oliver Solberg (WRC2)

“I came out of a hairpin and into the first fesh fesh section. The sand was so, so soft and so deep. Because we’d come from a slow corner, we weren’t carrying any speed to come through the fesh fesh and we got stuck. “We were the first Rally2 car in there, so it’s tough. There was no warning, nothing.

“It’s such a shame, everything was going really well. Me and Elliott [Edmondson, co-driver] were really controlled with no risk – just steadily building the lead and then this happened. There was literally nothing I could do, we tried to come through, but the car just dug in and bottomed out. The marshals tried to move us, but we couldn’t find a rope strong enough.

“It’s tough to go out like this, the car is just perfect. But OK, this is Safari, and it can do these kind of things to you, we have seen it before. We will keep pushing and come back tomorrow.”

Saturday

The second full day of action will see the crews tackle 146.5km’s over six stages. Who will be in the lead by the end of the day? We may see the rain out there and this can-do crazy things to the stages.

Time then for round three of this year’s championship and crews head to the wilds of Kenya. Elfyn and Scott lead the championship standings from their part-time teammates, Seb and Vincent by almost 30 points.

Of course, the British duo in their GR Yaris hold a very good lead over the regular crews such as Kalle and Jonne, Thierry and Martijn and Ott and Martin.

The crews have an incredible 384km’s ahead of them over twenty-one stages. The longest day is Friday at 157km’s whilst Saturday has 146km’s in total.

Let’s hear from the drivers!

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“It’s been a good start to the year for us and we can be happy with how well the first two events have gone, but now the focus moves to gravel, where the learning starts again with another new tyre. While not representative of the roads in Kenya, our test last week was good familiarisation with this year’s specification of car on gravel and with the tyres. The Safari is a unique rally with a special set of conditions to face: it’s not easy even if it’s dry, but when you add the likelihood of rain and standing water, it can be a huge challenge just to get to the end. This has been an amazing rally for the team over recent years and while it’s not perhaps been my strongest event personally, we want to aim as high as possible and challenge for the win if it’s possible.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“It has not been the easiest start to our season, but we’re not too far from the fight and now we move onto gravel, it’s a new chance to push harder and try to get back to where we want to be. The team has been really strong so far, and we just need to put all the pieces together on our end so that we can be on the same pace. The test last week was really important to try some different things and to find a good feeling with the car and tyres on gravel. The Safari is definitely one of the most special rallies in the season. It’s always really cool to go there and we’ll try to do another good result, as we really need that this year. It’s a hard rally to predict but we’ll try to push really hard and do our best.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“Sweden was a nice rally for me, where I was able to show speed and finish with a strong result, and this gives me a good feeling for Kenya. The Safari is a special rally for me, and the team has been very strong there every year. They always prepare the car well and reliability has been our key strength. This year could be more challenging with the greater distance and new stages, so we need to prepare the pacenotes well during recce. We also have to find the best way to drive with this year’s car and tyres, but the feeling was quite good in our test. We always have a lot of support in Kenya, and I will try of course to finish on the podium again, but anything can happen there, and we need to prepare and manage it well.”

Sami Pajari

“The season has started with some very specific rallies, so it’s not been easy, but so far we have done some nice stage times and had many positive moments, and hopefully it can continue like this in Kenya. I was there for the recce last year, so I know a little bit what the roads are like, but it’s still going to be a huge challenge. The team has been really good there over the past few years, so I can expect the car to be strong, but I’m focused on my own performance as well. The target is just to gain as much experience as we can, but we’re also there to do our best and in a rally like this, anything can happen. It will be tough but I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“Safari Rally Kenya is very different from any other rally. Despite being rough like Greece, Kenya’s conditions, weather and surface can change very quickly. It’s rainy season over there, so if there’s precipitation, it’s very demanding both for the cars and for our visibility. The roughness of the terrain changes year on year; in addition to that, there are a couple of new stages as well as others that are run in the opposite direction to last time. Nevertheless, we need to have a clever drive. Taking care of the car and staying away from trouble will be key to that. Obviously, you need a bit of luck, but hopefully it’s going to work this year. While we expected more from Monte Carlo, the pace was definitely there, and that was shown in our performance in Sweden. We want to take it one step further in Kenya and finish on the podium steps.”

Ott Tänak

“Safari Rally Kenya is the most testing rally we have on the calendar. Generally, the roads are very demanding and rough, but super-fast at the same time. As we discovered last year, stones can appear from anywhere, so it’s a rally where we need to expect everything. The key is to find the perfect balance of risk and reward, but it is never easy. We need trust in our car to be reliable so we could push ourselves, as well as the places in the rough sections where we can carry as much speed as possible. The speeds are high and often we are competing on open sections where there is not much around us other than zebras and giraffes. This makes it quite tricky to perfect the pacenotes. We want to leave Kenya having had a trouble-free event and with a big trophy.”

Adrien Fourmaux

“Finishing on the podium in Kenya last year, I learned that it’s a very different rally than the others: it’s all about endurance and managing both the car and the tyres. It’s a really long event and it’s very rough, so the fastest crew is not guaranteed to be on top every time – we need to be smart to get to the end. This is now my third different surface in three events with a new team, which is great as I can learn quickly the car in all the type of conditions. The car is prepared differently for Kenya: the suspension is really high to protect the car as much as possible, as well as us as a crew. My goal for the weekend would be to return to the podium, but I know it’s a big challenge. Anything can happen, so we will do our best to get the best result.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Grégoire Munster

“I’m really looking forward to Safari Rally Kenya, it’s probably my favourite event on the calendar, just because you experience things there that you don’t see anywhere else – not only with the wildlife but also with the tricky conditions. The heavy rain can be really intense, and the terrain is always changing so you have to pick a small track in the middle of tall grass fields which really adds to the character of the event.

“I’m really looking forward to the challenge, I think we are well prepared with the team, and we had a good pre-event test in Greystoke earlier this week, so we just want to do well in Kenya and get a strong result.”

Josh McErlean

“This iconic event pushes drivers, co-drivers, and machines to their absolute limits, and I’m excited to take on its demanding terrain. The guys and girls at M-Sport have worked hard to prepare the cars into Safari spec, it’s pretty cool seeing the snorkel on the car. Both myself and Eoin are ready to face this adventure and whatever it throws our way.”

Jourdan Serderidis

“Kenya is where I have delivered my best results in WRC, with seventh in 2022 and ninth last year. I can’t wait to do it once again and to do my best to enter the top ten again! I know it is a tough rally and that we need to have a perfect run through the stages, and we also want to show our improvements that we have seen during the pre-event test.”

WRC2

Oliver Solberg

“The challenge from Sweden to here is so different,” said the Monster Energy driver. “This is one of the really cool aspects of the World Rally Championship: we go from minus 15 and proper snow and ice to this… Look at this place,” he smiles. “It’s incredible.

What a beautiful place to go rallying. We have done a few runs already today and everything is feeling good. We have worked a little bit with the suspension and the set-up, and the car is feeling really nice. “Since I joined this team and started driving the Toyota at the start of the season, I was feeling comfortable and really at home. Both the Yaris and the team is fantastic, it gives a lot of confidence coming to an event like the Safari.

“There’s no doubt, we have to take a different approach for this one – you can’t drive flat-out all of the time, there will be a rock waiting for you somewhere. But at the same time, you can’t afford to take it too steady, the competition is super-tough in WRC2. We need to find a quick and consistent speed this week.

“But also, we have to enjoy competing in Africa. It’s an incredible place with some of the best fans in the world – I love coming here! We came directly from competing at Race of Champions in Australia, that was a really cool event. I stayed on for a few days to relax in Sydney after the race and actually proposed to my partner Chloe. It was a cool moment on Bondi beach. What was even cooler was her saying yes!”

Summary

The action has already started with shakedown earlier today. Kalle led the way from Thierry and Ott whilst Welshman Elfyn was seventh fastest.

Who can win this weekend then? Well, it’s hard to not look past Kalle who won this rally last year and also in 2022 as well. Toyota have dominated this rally ever since it returned to the championship in 2021 winning every event as well.

Hyundai have led the event previously – can they take a victory and beat the Toyota team? Only time will tell…..

For the three M-Sport crews this will be a learning event in particular for Josh and Eoin. Greg and Louis will have some experience to rely on from. Jourdan keeps returning to this event which had seen his best result at the top level, and he clearly loves it.