WRC: Elfyn Evans Takes Lead in Kenya’s Safari Rally with Toyota

In the third rally of the World Rally Championship season, held in Kenya, leader of the standings Elfyn Evans took the lead in the Safari Rally driving a Toyota Yaris. The previous frontrunner, Ott Tänak with the Hyundai i20, faced mechanical issues. The true nature of the Safari Rally was revealed today as only a few cars emerged unscathed from the eight special speed stages on the Great Rift Valley’s dusty terrain. Over half of the Rally1 cars encountered problems. Tänak initially appeared unstoppable, securing four wins in the first four special stages, opening up a nearly one-minute lead. However, disaster struck in the afternoon when a driveshaft failure left the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 with rear-wheel drive only, dropping the Estonian to third place, 55.4 seconds behind the leader. This opened the door for Evans in the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1, who, despite not setting any fastest times, moved into the lead with consistent performance. The Welshman, who arrived in Kenya with a 28-point championship lead, finished the day just 7.7 seconds ahead of his teammate Kalle Rovanperä. Beyond Tänak, reigning champion Thierry Neuville also faced issues as his i20 N experienced delays leaving the service area due to gearbox changes, followed by further complications that left him 36 seconds behind Tänak. Further down the field, significant gaps emerged with Katsuta in fifth and Pajari in sixth, both driving Yaris cars, while Jossie McCraken in the first Ford Puma is seventh but nearly six minutes behind Evans. Saturday’s leg brings another six grueling stages covering a competitive distance of 146.50 km.