Paraguay speedster Diego Domínguez will aim to avenge his 2022 Safari Rally Kenya disappointment as he returns to Africa in a Ford Fiesta Rally3 car in the WRC3 category in Naivasha this week.
The South American driver fell foul to Kenya’s punishing gravel tracks on his first visit to the event 12 months ago, crashing into retirement whilst holding a sizeable lead of well over a minute in WRC3.
Back for another attempt alongside co-driver Rogelio Peñate, Domínguez also has championship aspirations.
The 23-year-old trails leader Roope Korhonen by 38 points ahead of this seventh round but has started one rally less than his Finnish rival, who is absent this week.
Chasing Domínguez down for Safari success will be a raft of local drivers, led by FIA Junior WRC regular Hamza Anwar. Jeremiah Wahome, last year’s runner-up, also features, while McRae Kimathi makes his first FIA World Rally Championship start since Greece last year.
Meanwhile, Hyundai Motorsport star Esapekka Lappi will step into a whole new world when he contests at this week’s Safari.
The Finn has never competed at the Naivasha-based FIA World Rally Championship round but feels he’s as prepared as he can be.
Twelve months ago, Sébastien Ogier drove the Toyota the pair were sharing and Lappi was on the WRC bench in 2021.
“I’ve watched as many onboards as possible to understand how you should drive on each of the specific areas,” he said.
“This is going to be a new adventure, a new territory for me — somewhere I’ve never been before. I don’t know what to expect, but I think we know what the car is capable of from another gravel rally.”
“We know the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid performs well on this surface, but we may just need to go higher on the ride height. I’ve also heard there are a lot of zebras here, so it will be a unique experience for me with the conditions and the animals as well,” he added.
Despite the unknown, Lappi is a man riding the crest of a podium wave right now, arriving into Africa on the back of three consecutive top threes.
He added: “We need to set the target of a podium finish from now on. We know the speed is there, so that (podium) has to be our goal.”
