Staff Writer
Sebastien Ogier, a former eight-time world champion from France, beat out Toyota colleague Kalle Rovanpera to win the Safari Rally in Kenya on Sunday. Ogier patched up his back tailgate with a bin liner.
With Elfyn Evans completing the podium and Takamoto Katsuta taking fourth, Toyota grabbed the first four positions, with Ogier, who isn’t driving a full season, finishing just 6.7 seconds ahead of the 22-year-old Finn.
It was the 39-year-old Ogier’s second victory in Kenya following 2021 and his 58th victory overall in the World Rally Championship. He has only made five starts this season.
After round seven of thirteen races, Rovanpera finished in second place to maintain his lead in the drivers’ standings, 37 points ahead of Belgium’s Thierry Neuville (Hyundai), who came in seventh in Kenya.
The fact that Ogier clipped a tree and completely tore off the back tailgate of his car made victory far from certain. He filled the hole with a bin liner to prevent dust from getting in.
“Unbelievable! Look at that, even on the Power Stage I got a stone on the windscreen!” said Ogier.
“We had a lot of problems, but the speed of the rally could have been more comfortable for us. There was a lot of bad luck, but we got it home.
Title-defending You always want to battle for the victory, but we did our best to start the first vehicle on the road, so in that aspect, I don’t believe it’s entirely awful, said Rovanpera.
Good results for the season nonetheless.
The eighth round of the World Rally Championship will take place in Europe from July 20–23 on the lightning-fast gravel stages of Rally Estonia.
