Safari Rally Kenya – Rovanperä and Toyota, power 4!

L’homme de ce week-end africain, c’est lui. Kalle Rovanperä, 21 ans, remporte le premier Safari Rally de sa carrière, au Kenya. Le Finlandais s’impose pour la quatrième fois de la saison au volant de sa Toyota Yaris. Au terme d’une épreuve maîtrisée, en tête du rally since Friday evening, the leader of the world championship has shown the full extent of his talent and maturity on eventful special stages. 

Kalle Rovanpera wins brilliantly, Ogier finished 4th and Loeb 8ème

WRC Kenya Rally

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- CANAL + Sport (@CanalplusSport) June 26, 2022

Kalle Rovanperä also leads a historic quadruple for Toyota. The Japanese team places its four cars in the first four rows, a first since the 1993 Safari Rally!

Elfyn Evans, 2nd, reached the second podium of her season after that of Portugal and moved back into the top 5 for the championship. He is ahead of Takamoto Katsuta who returns to the podium in Kenya, after his 2nd place in 2021. The last Toyota, that of Sébastien Ogier, finished 4th. The French driver, leading the rally on Friday, was unable to defend his chances because of a fatal puncture during SS7.

The #GRYaris Rally1 finishes 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th at the legendary #SafariRallyKenya! 🇰🇪🏆🙌

🥇 @KalleRovanpera 🇫🇮 @JonneHalttunen 🇫🇮
🥈 @ElfynEvans (I.e. @scottmartinat 🇬🇧
🥉 @TakamotoKatsuta 🇯🇵 @AaronJ_CoDriver (I.e.
4 X @SebOgier ???????? @BenVeillas ????????#ToyotaGAZOORacing #WRC pic.twitter.com/w3B5YRYEkw

- TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT (@TGR_WRC) June 26, 2022

Toyota shines, Hyundai and M-Sport in the shadows in Kenya

Au classement Constructeurs, Toyota continue de prendre le large avec désormais 62 points d’avance sur Hyundai. La firme coréenne a vécu un week-end cauchemardesque au Kenya. D’abord en manque de rythme vendredi, Thierry Neuville, Ott Tänak and Oliver Solberg all suffered several mechanical problems. Tänak was not even able to see the finish of the rally on Sunday, after a final retirement due to power steering failure.

Thierry Neuville a tout de même réussi à terminer le Safari Rally avec la 5e place et les points de la Power Stage, une maigre consolation. Derrière le Belge, on retrouve trois Ford M-Sport aux destins différents. Craig Breen had a very difficult race: not spared by his mechanics, he scored the points for 6th place but far, very far from the pace of the best.

#WRC (I.e. @thierryneuville and @MWydaeghe convert their never-give-up attitude into 5th overall at @wrcsafarirally following an eventful rally for the Belgian pairing in Kenya. They also add five points by winning the concluding power stage.#HMSGOfficial #SafariRallyKenya pic.twitter.com/rwmnmFviWx

— Hyundai Motorsport (@HMSGOfficial) June 26, 2022

For the first entry of a private car in the hybrid era, Jourdan Serderidis finished in an astonishing 7th place. The Greek, far from the times of other drivers, avoided all the pitfalls to finish the Safari in the points. 

Sébastien Loeb did not have the rally he hoped for in Kenya after his retirement on Friday with an engine problem. The Alsatian is in 8th place, with 3 scratch times to his credit. Speaking to Canal+, the nine-time world rally champion said he wanted to take part in the next Rally of Greece (September 8-11), but that nothing had yet been made official.

Sébastien Loeb: “Maybe see you in Greece”

WRC Rallies of Kenya

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The last Frenchman, Adrien fourmaux, finished his 2nd Safari Rally outside the points. Victim of two retirements in two days, the Northerner was once again unlucky despite an honorable pace in the special.

In the World Drivers' Championship, Kalle Rovanperä is now 65 points ahead of Thierry Neuville and 83 over Ott Tänak, before the next Rally Estonia, from July 14 to 17.

The final ranking of the Safari Rally: 

The Power Stage ranking: 

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