WRC Safari Rally: Rovanpera wins as Toyota scores 1-2-3-4

Rovanpera once again proved the class of the field as the 21-year-old completed 19 brutal gravel stages (363.44km) to take his fourth win from six events this year.

Despite opening the roads, the Finn led home Elfyn Evans by 52.8s with team-mates Takamoto Katsuta third (1m42.7s behind) and eight-time world champion Sebastien Ogier fourth (2m10.3s back) to score Toyota’s first 1-2-3-4 in WRC since the 1993 Safari Rally, won by Juha Kankkunen.   

Only six of 12 WRC Rally1 cars completed the full rally distance in what proved to be the toughest event of the season by far. 

Rovanpera’s only blemish arrived on the Thursday’s opening Super Special stage in Nairobi when he almost rolled his GR Yaris, picking up a puncture in the process. 

On Friday he fared admirably opening the roads as Kenya’s deep fesh-fesh sand wreaked havoc with WRC crews, ending the day with a 14.6s lead over Elfyn Evans.

Evans emerged as a genuine rally contender on Saturday as he closed to within 15s of leader Rovanpera, before the latter produced a masterclass when torrential rain transformed the dry gravel and sand into a mud bath.

While Evans was hampered by a windscreen washer issue that severely limited visibility, Rovanpera was able to end Saturday with a 40.3s lead. From there, Rovanpera had control of the rally and was able to back off to preserve his GR Yaris to move into a 65-point championship lead.

Elfyn Evans, Scott Martin, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Evans, likewise, elected to back off on Sunday given the nature of the car breaking stages to secure his second podium of the campaign.

Katsuta produced a solid drive throughout but it was far from a trouble-free run after briefly losing a