You couldn’t have scripted the result better even if you tried.
Take four World Rally Championship Toyota Gazoo Racing Yaris’ to the toughest race on the calendar and come home with all four in one piece taking the top three podium positions and throw in fourth place for good measure.
Every driver and team competing in the event that took place in Naivasha, Kenya, in the Great Rift Valley, were at pains to explain that this event with its tricky terrain, dusty roads, rocks and free roaming wild animals was unlike anything else they would experience.
So it says much for Toyota that when they crossed the line for the final standings it was Sebastien Ogier (France) and Vincent Landais (France) that squeaked in ahead of Kalle Rovanpera (Finland) and Jonne Halttunen (Finland), followed by Elfyn Evans (Great Britain) and Scott Martin (Great Britain) and completing the clean sweep was Katsuta Takamoto (Japan) and Aaron Johnson (Ireland).
It was Toyota’s third 1-2-3-4 Safari finish after the initial one in 1993 delivered by “Flying Finn” Juha Kankkunen, who was on hand to witness it.
Ogier recorded his third victory from just five starts so far this season but his rally almost unravelled in the final day’s second special stage when a patch of Kenya’s infamous fesh-fesh sand sent his GR Yaris car wide on a right-hand bend.
The Frenchman, fighting hard to recover time lost to Rovanpera in the rocky opener, clipped a tree and ripped off his car’s entire rear tailgate. Winning the stage and making all the time back, he then patched the gap using a bin liner to keep dust at bay in Hell’s Gate 1.
“Unbelievable! Look at that, even on the Power Stage I got a stone on the windscreen. We had a lot of issues to face - it could have been a more comfortable rally for us in terms of pace. A lot of misfortune but we brought it home," Ogier said after the race.
Ogier saw his lead whittled down to just 9.2sec before the Wolf Power Stage finale, but the eight-time world champion held on to come in 6.7 seconds ahead of championship leader and defending Safari Rally winner Rovanpera.
Said Rovanpera: “You always want to fight for the win but we did our best starting first car on the road, so I think we did well. It’s good points for the season anyway.”
Any rally is not without its challenges and even for the slick Toyota set-up they had to contend with dust-induced overheating engines and Katsuta had to relinquish a podium finish when his car’s hybrid unit stopped working, sapping peak performance.
“When we won this 1-2-3-4 last year, I thought it was something that takes decades to win but it happened one year later,” said Toyota Team Principal Jari-Matti Latvala.
“We have an excellent team of people, a reliable and strong car, and we have drivers who have the patience to drive a clever way, which is a combination of driving fast but also slowing down for the rough places and understanding the history of this event. Coming with the right philosophy has achieved this result.”
IOL Motoring