Rally Estonia up next after successful Safari
Sponsored by Safari Rally Kenya
By Peter Njenga
The 2023 World Rally Championship series now moves to Estonia next month after last weekend’s Safari Rally celebrated its 70th anniversary on a resounding note, with Frenchmen Sebastien Ogier and Vincent Landais of Toyota Gazoo Racing the victors, but the biggest winners were the Kenyan people.
Rally Estonia will be held from July 20 to 23.
Ogier, who isn’t driving a full season, came home just 6.7 seconds ahead of the 22-year-old Toyota teammate Kalle Rovanpera, as Toyota claimed the first four places, with Elfyn Evans rounding out the podium and Takamoto Katsuta finishing in fourth.
It was the 39-year-old Ogier’s third victory from just five starts so far this season, his second in Kenya after 2021 and his 58th career win in the World Rally Championship series.
Rovanpera’s second place saw him consolidate his place atop the drivers’ standings, 37 points clear of Belgium’s Thierry Neuville (Hyundai), who finished in eighth in Kenya, after round seven of 13.
Victory was far from a given, however, as Ogier clipped a tree and ripped off his car’s entire rear tailgate. He patched the gap using a bin liner to keep dust at bay.
A four-day thrilling display by Ogier through rocks, wet and dry stages of 350km of relentless driving watched by thousands of enthusiastic fans proved three things.
First, Ogier with eight world titles under his belt, is simply the best off his generation, and he has more years of driving beyond the limits at 39, an age at which most drivers either call it quits or their reflexes start giving away.
The Frenchman announced he was gradually pulling out of the WRC to concentrate on his family after winning his eighth World Rally Championship (WRC) title in the 2021 season, the same year Kenyans were treated to his sublime driving skills in a Toyota Yaris car.
But he continued racing in select events, including the Safari Rally this year and last year.
Secondly, as it is, the WRC is shaping into a four-driver race pitting world champion Kalle Rovanpera of Toyota Gazoo Racing, M-Sport Ford driver Ott Tanak, Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville and of course Ogier. Rovanpera, who finished second in the Safari Rally, has 139 points, followed by Neuville (102). Ogier and Tanak are tied on 97 points and Elfyn Evans in fifth with 96.
They shared stage times in the Safari Rally, and it was unfortunate to see Tanak, winner at the Kasarani Super Special Stage, suffer a series of mishaps, including a puncture, which extinguished his chances of winning the Safari Rally on Friday, to suffer over two minutes of total cumulative time that he was unable to cancel throughout the remaining days.
Thirdly, rally rules are brutal. The unseen big brother in terms of technology which tracks the competitors virtually is ruthlessly honest, and not everybody is your friend. There is nothing like sportsmanship in motorsport. You are all fierce competitors, and snitching you to gain something from you is fair game.
There is a select group of people known as stewards who hear cases of dispute in motorsports event. They dispense justice in real-time. They read the charge sheet, lend a sympathetic ear before passing judgement and imposing a hefty fine in form of cash denominated in Euros or worse, penalties in time added to one’s total, or disqualification.
Kenyan champion Karan Patel was the first culprit. He was fined the equivalent of Ksh280,000 for failing to activate the green button and an ‘OK’ sign within a minute relayed the signal in real-time at the Rally Headquarters. This is required to alert the Clerk of Course of the status of the drivers. A red signal would suffice in case of danger such as an accident that requires the rally to be stopped, or in case of a medical emergency.
Karan had stopped at Kedong stage to change a flat tyre.
But the worst judgement in the Safari Rally was imposed on Neuville, who admitted walking in a restricted zone to remove stones, which is akin to having prior knowledge of the route, and therefore an advantage over your competitors. He admitted the mistake but argued that he wanted a stone removed. People from the organising team reported him. He thus forfeited his two points in the Safari, for himself and his team Hyundai.
But how were Kenyans the winners?
Granted, the Safari Rally’s slot in the WRC is guaranteed until 2026, but this does not mean that it is cast in stone. The Safari Rally must year on end meet high standards imposed by the International Motorsport Federation (FIA).
Speaking to delegates, media, drivers, and WRC Promoter, they all agreed that the Safari Rally still has its vintage characteristics of being unpredictable as happened on Saturday when it rained heavily in Soysambu area, rendering the high technology in Rally 1 cars hopeless.
The presence of President William Ruto and his Deputy Rigathi Gachagua at the start and finish was a stamp of approval for the Safari Rally.
WRC Safari Rally 2023 results:
- Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (FRA/Toyota) 3hrs 30mins 42.5sec
- Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen (FIN/Toyota) at 6.7s
- Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (GBR/Toyota) 2:58.5
- Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (JPN-IRL/Toyota) 3:23.8
- Dani Sordo/Candido Carrera (ESP/Hyundai) 5:05.4
- Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja (EST/M-Sport/Ford) 9:14.4
- Pierre-Louis Loubet/Nicolas Gilsoul (FRA/M-Sport/Ford) 16:15.7
- Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (BEL/Hyundai) 24:47.0
World championship standings
- Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen (FIN) 139 points
- Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (BEL) 102
- Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (GBR) 98
- Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (FRA) 97
- Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja (EST) 97
