After Le Mans, Ogier returns to rallying in Kenya

Barely recovered from 24 Hours of Le Mans which Sébastien Ogier repart déjà sur la piste. Au revoir le bitume manceau, bonjour la terre kenyane. Le Français retrouve le Safari Rally après le double tour d’horloge dans la Sarthe, avec l’équipe Toyota et la Yaris Rally1.

Winner last year in Kenya, for the return of the legendary African event, the eight-time world champion can't wait to get back in the car. “I can’t wait to come back to Kenya. Last year we had a really pleasant welcome and a lovely atmosphere. It was something special and different from what we are used to. The victory was the icing on the cake. It would be great to try and repeat that this year, with a little more knowledge of the steps we are going to take. »

Sébastien Ogier won the only edition of the Safari Rally in which he participated. After falling significantly behind during the first specials in 2021, the Frenchman managed to climb back to first place. Based on this experience, he warns that this year again, everything could change in Kenya. “We saw that this rally can be very difficult. Last year, almost everyone had a problem at some point and we came back from over two minutes to win. So it's a rally where you should never give up, and this year, the cars are still very new, we may have to be even smarter than before. »

With Ogier back, Toyota wants to defend its 2021 success

Toyota arrive au Safari Rally avec deux principales ambitions : prendre sa revanche sur Hyundai après l’échec de la Sardaigne et défendre le succès kenyan d’Ogier en 2021. L’an dernier, l’équipe japonaise avait même réussi le double avec la 2e place de Takamoto Katsuta.

Jari-Matti Latvala, the team director, believes that reliability will be more important than pure performance to win in Kenya. “Even though the rally is very different from what it was before, the spirit of the event is the same: it is more about endurance than pure speed,” admits the ex-Finnish pilot. “This year again we have to prepare for anything, and it will be another big test for the Rally 1 cars. The conditions can look good during the recce, then turn out to be very difficult during the rally. (…) But our four pilots (Ogier, Evans, Rovanperä, Katsuta) can count on the experience they gained last year. They have an idea of ​​what awaits them. » 

Among the four cars entered by Toyota, championship leader Kalle Rovanperä hopes that his sweeper position will not handicap him too much. “Hopefully in Kenya we won't waste so much time opening the road and we can try to have a good weekend. Last year it was a good rally for us overall, we were just a bit unlucky (…). This year we will try to avoid these kinds of things and approach the event in a better way. So it’s a special place and you have to approach it a little differently. »

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