Sebastien Ogier defied teammate Kalle Rovanpera’s charge to head home a dream 1-2-3-4 finish for Toyota Gazoo Racing on a dramatic final day at WRC Safari Rally Kenya.
Ogier (above), who’s chosen to run only a limited FIA World Rally Championship program, recorded his third victory from just five starts so far this season. But his rally very nearly unraveled in Sunday’s second special stage, Oserian 1, when a patch of Kenya’s infamous, soft and deep fesh-fesh sand sent his GR Yaris Rally1 wide on a right-hand turn.
The Frenchman, fighting hard to recover time lost to Rovanpera in the day’s rocky opener, Malewa 1, clipped a tree and ripped off his car’s entire rear tailgate. Amazingly, he still won the stage and made all the time back, then patched the gap using a trash-can liner to keep dust at bay in the following Hell’s Gate 1.
More permanent repairs in service did not conclude the drama, however, as all four Yaris crews completed the penultimate stage with dust-induced overheating engines. Ogier, one of the hardest hit, saw his lead reduced to just 9.2s before the rally-closing, bonus points-paying Wolf Power Stage finale. There, where the eight-time WRC champ’s run was again not without incident, arriving at the flying finish with a cracked windshield from a flicked-up rock.
Despite the late incident, he was able to secure the win by 6.7s and spearhead Toyota’s second clean sweep in as many Safari Rallies.
Kenya’s President, William Ruto, presented Ogier and co-driver Vincent Landais with their trophies, commemorating Ogier’s second win at the event, amid stunning scenery at Hell’s Gate.
“Unbelievable! Look at that, even on the Power Stage I got a stone on the windscreen,” said Ogier. “We had a lot of issues to face, but it couldn’t have been a more comfortable rally for us in terms of pace. A lot of misfortune but we brought it home.”
Finishing in second place felt like a personal victory for defending WRC champ Rovanpera, who extended his 2023 drivers’ championship lead to 37 points after round seven of 13.
“You always want to fight for the win, but we did our best starting first car on the road, so regarding that I think it’s not fully bad,” noted the 22-year-old Finn. “Good points for the season anyway.”
Takamoto Katsuta’s hopes of surpassing Toyota teammate Elfyn Evans and achieving a third Safari Rally podium vanished when his Yaris’s hybrid unit stopped working, sapping vital performance. The Japanese driver settled for fourth overall, 25.3s back from Evans, with Ogier and Rovanpera almost three minutes up the road from the third-placed Welshman.
Dani Sordo overcame power steering failure in his Hyundai i20 N Rally1 during Sunday’s third stage to finish an isolated fifth at the end of a testing weekend for Hyundai Motorsport, which now trails Toyota by 42 points in the WRC manufacturers’ title race.
Of the other Hyundais, early podium challenger Esapekka Lappi was way down the order after being plagued by transmission issues in his i20 N, while Thierry Neuville, recovering from suspension failure on Friday, could only roll home eighth, almost 25 minutes off the lead. The Belgian did take the five bonus points for winning the Power Stage and maintains second in the WRC standings, but closing down a 37-point deficit to Rovanpera will be a tough ask.
Tire troubles earlier in the rally prevented M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 drivers Ott Tanak and Pierre-Louis Loubet from mounting any form of attack. They finished sixth and seventh respectively, with Tanak taking the slim consolation of second-fastest time through the Power Stage.
In WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, Kajetan Kajetanowicz secured his second Safari Rally class win in as many years with a masterful drive in the typically challenging conditions.
The Pole cruised to Sunday afternoon’s finish in his Skoda Fabia Evo more than 11 minutes in front of nearest-placed challenger Martin Prokop, moving from ninth to fourth in the WRC2 standings as a result.
Kajetanowicz had battled with M-Sport Ford youngster Gregoire Munster through Friday and Saturday, but found himself comfortably clear at the top when the Fiesta Mk II driver pulled over with a mechanical issue. A measured run through Sunday’s closing six special stages was all that was needed to bring home the victory and finish ninth overall.
“We did it again! It’s an amazing feeling. It seemed to be easy, but it wasn’t. Thank you to my team and Maciej — I think we did quite a good job,” said Kajetanowicz, referencing his co-driver Maciej Szczepaniak.
Completing the overall top 10, Oliver Solberg’s Skoda finished just 30.6s behind Kajetanowicz’s similar car, but with only seven rounds counting toward the WRC2 championship, the 21-year-old Swede had elected not to register for class points in Kenya.
The FIA World Rally Championship returns to Europe next month when the super-fast gravel roads of Rally Estonia host round eight, July 20-23.
WRC Safari Rally Kenya, final positions after Day Three, SS19
1 Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 3h30m42.5s
2 Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +6.7s
3 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +2m58.5s
4 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +3m23.8s
5 Dani Sordo/Candido Carrera (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +5m05.4s
6 Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja (M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1) +9m14.4s
7 Pierre-Louis Loubet/Nicolas Gilsoul (M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1) +16m15.7s
8 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +24m47.0s
9 Kajetan Kajetanowicz/Maciej Szczepaniak (Skoda Fabia Evo – WRC2 winner) +26m33.4s
10 Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson (Skoda Fabia Evo – RC2/non-points) +27m04.0s
WRC Drivers’ Championship after 7 rounds
1 Rovanpera 139 points
2 Neuville 102
3 Evans 98
4 Ogier 97
5 Tanak 97
WRC Manufacturers’ Championship after 7 rounds
1 Toyota Gazoo Racing 283 points
2 Hyundai Motorsport 241
3 M-Sport Ford 174
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