Rovanpera headed a historic Toyota WRC 1-2-3-4 for the first time since the 1993 Safari Rally as the Finn extended his championship lead to 65 points over Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville.
After almost rolling his GR Yaris on the opening stage, the Finn produced another masterclass in tackling Kenya’s unforgiving gravel roads in what proved to be an attritional 19 stages.
Rovanpera came under pressure from Elfyn Evans on Saturday morning, before starring in wet conditions to take the victory by 52.8s.
Takamoto Katsuta secured his first podium since last year’s Safari Rally while eight-time world champion Sebastien Ogier settled for fourth after a puncture cost him the rally lead on Friday.
Both Hyundai and M-Sport-Ford battled misfortune and mechanical issues as the Safari Rally proved to be a car breaker.
Neuville bounced back from retiring on Saturday to finish fifth, while Craig Breen led M-Sport’s charge in sixth after returning from a broken steering arm.
Host Martyn Lee is joined by WRC reporter Tom Howard to discuss all the key topics from Kenya.
The duo explain how Rovanpera tamed a wild Safari Rally to claim his fourth win of the season and the reliability woes Hyundai and M-Sport suffered. Plus listen to reaction from the winner Rovanpera and runner-up Evans.
You can listen to the podcast using the player below, or via all good audio platforms including Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts.
