WRC – Evans/Martin seize Safari Rally Kenya victory to carry file championship lead
2025 Safari Rally Kenya – Closing report
Elfyn Evans tamed the wilds of Safari Rally Kenya to assert a landmark victory on Sunday and tighten his grip on the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) title race.
The Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 driver, co-driven by Scott Martin, beat Hyundai rival Ott Tänak by 1min 9.9sec to safe his second win of the season. In doing so, he opened up the most important championship lead ever recorded after three rounds of a WRC marketing campaign.
Evans arrived in Africa driving a wave of momentum following victory in Sweden and a runner-up end at Rallye Monte-Carlo. Now, with a commanding 36-point benefit on the prime of the drivers’ standings, the Welshman has carved out clear daylight between himself and his title rivals after the third of 14 rounds.
His newest success was constructed throughout a punishing four-day route that started in Nairobi on Thursday and ventured deep into Kenya’s unforgiving Nice Rift Valley. And as ever, the Safari’s uncooked spectacle drew large crowds – with police estimating over 250,000 followers lined the phases this yr, up from 188,000 in 2024.
Evans moved into the lead late on Friday when early pacesetter Tänak was delayed by a damaged driveshaft on his Hyundai i20 N Rally1 – and from there, he by no means appeared again.
It was removed from a trouble-free run, nevertheless. He overcame tyre deflations and spins earlier within the rally, then fastidiously managed {an electrical} situation all through Sunday’s closing leg. Tänak chipped away on the deficit throughout the closing phases, however Evans held agency to hitch a choose group of British drivers to have conquered the Safari – following within the wheel tracks of legends Colin McRae and Richard Burns.
Tänak was joined on the rostrum by team-mate and reigning world champion Thierry Neuville, who completed 2min 22.1sec behind after a drama-filled weekend. The Belgian’s troubles started on Friday with a one-minute time penalty after a delayed gearbox change, adopted by additional penalties for a soar begin and a late arrival as he labored to restore harm to his automobile’s cooling package deal on Saturday.
Regardless of the setbacks, Hyundai’s double podium marked its best-ever consequence on the Safari. In distinction – regardless of Evans’ victory – this was the primary version of the rally during which Toyota GAZOO Racing failed to position a couple of automobile on the rostrum.
A Toyota 1-2 had appeared possible till two-time world champion Kalle Rovanperä plummeted from second to fifth on Saturday afternoon with rear suspension harm. His misfortune continued into Sunday, when he retired as a consequence of {an electrical} situation – leaving him trailing team-mate Evans by 57 factors within the championship combat.
Takamoto Katsuta was on the right track for a fourth-place end after battling via a number of punctures and a bout of warmth exhaustion, however harm sustained throughout a roll on the Wolf Energy Stage prevented him from reaching the end and promoted fellow Toyota driver Sami Pajari. In the meantime, Grégoire Munster overcame a gearbox drawback to complete fifth in his M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1.
In seventh total, Gus Greensmith received WRC2, ending greater than three minutes forward of Jan Solans after the Spaniard rolled on SS18. Gentleman driver Jourdan Serderidis positioned eighth total in one other Puma, with Paraguay’s Fabrizio Zaldivar finishing the WRC2 podium in ninth as Josh McErlean rounded out the highest 10.
WRC2 gold for Greensmith as Solans rolls on closing day
Separated by simply 5.8sec heading into Sunday’s five-stage decider, Greensmith and Solans had been locked in a tense showdown – the Brit in a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, the Spaniard aboard a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2. Greensmith edged the opening take a look at by four-tenths, however Solans hit again onerous on the following stage and was 7.6sec up on the penultimate break up earlier than catastrophe struck.
The 27-year-old misjudged a left-hander and rolled, dropping over three minutes and handing Greensmith, co-driven by Jonas Andersson, a transparent run to the end. The win marked Greensmith’s first WRC2 triumph since Safari Rally Kenya 12 months in the past, the place he famously battled via sickness to take the spoils. It was additionally a double celebration for British rallying, with Welshman Elfyn Evans clinching outright victory within the headline Rally1 class.
Greensmith was certainly one of 4 drivers to steer WRC2 throughout the punishing four-day contest and inherited the highest spot on Saturday morning when Kajetan Kajetanowicz was thwarted by rear suspension harm. The Pole had earlier benefitted from Oliver Solberg’s misfortune – the Swede having dominated Friday earlier than turning into beached in a piece of deep fesh-fesh sand.
Regardless of the frustration, Solans nonetheless had one thing to rejoice. He secured victory within the WRC2 Challenger class – open to drivers and co-drivers who haven’t beforehand received a WRC title in Rally2 equipment nor scored factors for a top-level producer.
Fau Zaldivar claimed a career-best WRC2 results of third aboard one other Škoda. The Paraguayan trailed Solans by greater than 18 minutes however retained a cushty benefit over fourth-placed Daniel Chwist, regardless of retiring on Saturday’s closing stage and restarting on Sunday.
Solberg recovered to finish the highest 5, transferring into the lead of the championship and likewise taking house the FORUM8 WRC2 Most Stage Wins Award. Sixth place went to Kajetan
Kajetanowicz, whereas native hero Carl Tundo drove his Ford Fiesta R5 to victory within the WRC Masters Cup and seventh total in WRC2.
Nikhil Sachania, who’s paraplegic and drives in a modified Ford Fiesta Rally3 to go well with his incapacity, claimed the win within the WRC3 class.
An all-new problem awaits subsequent, because the WRC heads to Rally Islas Canarias. The asphalt fixture – primarily based on Gran Canaria – takes place from 24 – 27 April.
