Rovanpera and co-driver Jonne Halttunen managed to tame Kenya’s wild terrain to finish a largely untroubled run to a dominant victory – their first of a partial marketing campaign this 12 months. The pair have been the one Rally1 crew to keep away from any main delays in what’s famend because the WRC’s hardest rally on the calendar.
Rovnapera received seven of the 19 phases to steer dwelling a Toyota 1-2 as Takamoto Katsuta bounced again from crashing out in Sweden to complete second, his third podium in 4 visits to Kenya.
The rostrum was accomplished by M-Sport-Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux, who backed up a maiden WRC podium end achieved in Sweden final month with a effective third.
The Safari Rally continued to be Hyundai’s bogey occasion as punctures and reliability points as soon as once more hampered championship chief Thierry Neuville and Sweden winner Esapekka Lappi, whereas Ott Tanak was caught out by a rock in stage six.
Within the newest version of Gravel Notes, Autosport’s WRC reporter Tom Howard is joined by rally journalist Luke Barry to dissect all the important thing speaking factors from Kenya. The pair additionally focus on how an upset abdomen introduced again dangerous reminiscences for one of many co-hosts and choose their stars, unsung heroes and finest quotes from the rally.