Frenchman Sébastien Ogier defied team-mate Kalle Rovanperä’s charge to head home a dream 1-2-3-4 finish for Toyota Gazoo Racing on a spectacular Safari Rally finale on Sunday.
The eight-time champion recorded his third victory from just five starts so far this season, overcoming some nervy moments in the closing stages to beat GR Yaris team-mate Rovanperä on African soil.
Elfyn Evans rounded off the podium while Takamoto Katsuta completed a Toyota clean sweep at fourth overall.
In winning his second career Safari title, after his first in 2021, Ogier celebrated his 58th career WRC victory navigated by compatriot Vincent Landais.
“It's unbelievable. Look at the damage on my windscreen, I have had a lot of issues. This would have been a much more comfortable win had we not suffered many gremlins. All in all, we are the winners and we are happy to bring the car back home,” Ogier told WRC TV.
Ogier received his prize from His Excellency President William Ruto at the Fischer Tower which marked the end of the Wolf’s Power Stage at Hell’s Gate. The Fischer’s Tower is one of the key features of Safari, which is a volcanic plug near the northeastern border of Hell’s gate national park, with a height of approximately 25 metres.
It was named after German explorer — Gustav Fischer, who was sent to find a route from Mombasa to Lake Victoria.
Toyota GR Yaris Rally 1 Hybrid has dominated the iconic WRC Safari Rally Kenya since it returned to the global series in 2021, thanks to victories for Ogier in 2021 and 2023 and Rovanpera in 2022.
The 2023 Kenyan Safari Rally marked Toyota’s 11th victory in the classic African event and the third time the four-car team finished 1-2-3-4 in the World Rally Championship since the same rally in 1993.
In 1993, Juha ‘Flying Finn’ Kankkunen and Juha Piironen powered a Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD (ST185) for Toyota Castrol Team to victory in the Safari ahead of teammates Markku Alén /Kivimäki Ilkka, Kenya’s Ian Duncan and Iwase Yasuhiro/ Sudhir Vinayak.
The trailblazing Kankkunen was present in the country to witness the team’s third 1-2-3-4 finish.
Asked what makes the Japanese marque tick on the unforgiving African terrain, Toyota Gazoo Racing Principal Jari-Matti Latvala attributed the good run to the team’s heritage for the “world’s toughest rally”.
Latvala: “If you look at the rally, from the 80s and 90s we, have a great heritage and history, winning this event many times. And that has helped us to understand the spirit of the rally, the philosophy of the rally and with that, we know the nature of the event and what kind of approach we need to take. I think that history comes in handy when we come here.”
Hyundai Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul was frank in his analysis of the team’s bad run on the 2023 Safari.
The Hyundai Motorsport team principal explained to the Dirtfish website how the Naivasha-based event exposed their weaknesses, adding that the last few days had demonstrated how much work remained for the team.
Esapekka Lappi’s Hyundai i20 N Rally1 failed twice with the same prop shaft problem on Wednesday, while Theirry Neuville’s car was ruled out of the opening full day of action after the front-left suspension leg punched its way through the hood. Lappi also retired on the penultimate day and rejoined on the super rally rule.
“It’s a harsh rally,” Abiteboul told DirtFish. “It’s a type of rally that exposes your weakness, the weakness of the car, the weakness of the team and the weakness of the drivers. Frankly [it’s] as simple as that.”
“We have seen the harsh reality of the work we have to do. That’s five months into the job and clearly, I see there are some areas that need some improvement.”
Abiteboul also told Dirtfish that he was baffled by elements of Hyundai’s team structure ahead of his arrival.
He said: “Let’s remember that for years, Hyundai did not have a technical director which is a bit of a strange set-up, but now we fixed it and he has lots of ideas on how to make the car lighter, stronger and simpler.”
“We now want to be in a position to execute that. Having a lighter, stronger car is clearly what’s been missing on Safari as well as maybe having a slightly different approach to things including the procedures.”