The Toyota Gazoo Racing team dominated the podium in Naivasha during the WRC Safari Rally with Kalle Rovanperä, Evans, Takamoto, and Ogier taking the first four places. The spectacular performance has catapulted Toyota to the next level as far as rally cars are concerned.
Rovanpera, a 21-year-old, once again proved to be the king after completing 19 brutal gravel stages (363.44km) to take his fourth win from six events this year. Rovanpera’s only blemish arrived on Thursday’s opening Super Special stage in Nairobi when he almost rolled his GR Yaris, picking up a puncture in the process.
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.
“This year’s WRC Safari Rally was challenging due to the soft road sections and the Toyota Gazoo Racing Yaris cars performed well under pressure. We have always believed in ourselves and we knew that our team will put up a spirited fight this year,” said CFAO Motors Managing Director Arvinder Reel.
Arvinder added, that Rovanperä was able to maintain a steady and impressive performance since Thursday. Elfyn Evans came in second with Takamoto taking third place while Ogier came in fourth.
“We at CFAO Motors Kenya congratulate all the drivers who took part in the 2022 WRC Safari Rally for their amazing performance. Asante sana,” he added.
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. The peak of the event was graced by President Uhuru Kenyatta who also witnessed the last spectacular performance from the participants.
