French rally driver Sébastien Ogier wins 2023 WRC Safari Rally

French rally driver Sébastien Ogier has successfully reclaimed his WRC Safari Rally title after a hard-fought battle between him and defending champion Kalle Rovanperä of Finland.

Ogier navigated by Vincent Landias clocked 3:30:42.5 to finish ahead of the Finnish teammate with a 6.7 seconds advantage. Rovanpera navigated by Jonne Haulttunen timed 3:30:49.2 to settle for second while Elfyn Evans completed the podium in 3:33.41.

Takamoto Katsuta finished fourth in 3:35:47.9 to ensure a Toyota 1-2-3-4 clean sweep.

"Unbelievable! Look at that, even on the Power Stage I got a stone on the windscreen! We had a lot of issues to face but it could have been a more comfortable rally for us in terms of pace. A lot of misfortune but we brought it home," said Ogier after the victory.

Ogier won Seven stages, Rovanpera five while Katsuta, Ott Tanak and Thierry Neuville topped in two stages.

In total, Ogier collected 25 points plus three bonus points for finishing third at the Power Stage which was won by Neuville.

Despite losing to Ogier, Rovanpera still leads that Championship with 37 points five ahead of second-placed Neuville.

“You always want to fight for the win but we did our best starting first car on the road, so regarding that, I think it's not fully bad. Good points for the season anyway,” said Rovanpera after the loss.

Kenyan Carl Tundo navigated by Tim Jesspo finished 12th and third in the Rally 2 class.

Another Kenyan Shaman Vohra finished 17th overall.

Youngster Mcrae Kimathi finished 19th overall and third in the Rally 3 class in a race won by the sole driver Diego Dominguez.

Hamzar Anwar and Jeremiah Wahome were forced to retire their cars on Saturday after having mechanical issues.