“I believe it is the same lottery as you have in Europe, you buy a ticket and you hope for the best. It is going to be a bit like that. It is going to be very wild this year.”
That is how Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi described what awaits the World Rally Championship crews this week in what is expected to be the most extreme Safari Rally Kenya since the event rejoined the calendar in 2021.
The WRC’s visit to Africa has rightly earned the tagline as being the toughest event of the season due to its punishing rough gravel stages, changeable weather and unexpected hazards. This year, it appears conquering the rally will be more of a lottery than ever despite the itinerary being shortened from 383km to 350km, encompassing less of the tricky sandy sections.
The rainy season in Kenya is in full swing with heavy downpours, more intense than usual, hitting the stages in the lead up to the event – turning dry roads into flooded, heavily rutted mudbaths. The wet weather also uncovered more bedrock on the roads that will punish the cars even more, increasing the risk of punctures and reliability issues.
The teams are expecting the stages to dry in the morning sun, only for heavy rain showers to arrive in the afternoon and a return to muddy conditions that will impact driver visibility.
Two-time Safari winner and reigning world champion Sebastien Ogier is making his first start at the rally since winning the 2023 edition, and is certain this year’s event will be the toughest he has experienced.
Atmosphere
Photo by: M-Sport
“It looks like it will be the most challenging one at least from what I have seen,” said Ogier. “I have been here three times, and I have never seen so much water, and it seems the rainy season has started a bit earlier than expected.
“We used to come here later in the year, so we had afternoon showers but not this intense rain we have now. It has been difficult for the road because some sections are much rougher and some sections are full of water. It will be a challenge to bring the car to the end without trouble.
“If you manage to have a trouble-free rally, you will have a good result here. The puncture risks is high in places, but like I mentioned this water section will be difficult for the cars – and you see nothing when you go through that with the mud coming on the windscreen. You are sometimes a passenger as the ruts bounce you everywhere. You hope it is going to be ok.
“It is better not to expect too much from this rally because you really don’t know what can happen. We will try our best, but I think nobody can predict what will happen here.”
Ogier’s team-mate Oliver Solberg says finding a compromise between speed and navigating through the conditions without any trouble will be key.
“Everything [will be a challenge]. We need to find a good speed, a good safe speed, and understand which stage you can push and which you can’t. For me, every corner is different with rocks and whatever, so it is going to be extreme,” said Solberg.
“You have got to be on top of it definitely [keeping the windscreen clean when it rains]. The weather can change around everything. There are some old soap tricks my grandmother taught me for the windows so that could be a small thing [we can do].”
Atmosphere
Photo by: M-Sport
M-Sport-Ford’s Jon Armstrong added: “It has been some adventure before we have even turned a competitive mile. The recce is nothing [I have] seen before with the big swamps. I was joking that Shrek may be angry as we are driving through his swamp.”
The rally has proved to be a difficult event for Hyundai in the past with its best results arriving last year when Ott Tanak and Thierry Neuville finished second and third behind Toyota’s Elfyn Evans, who claimed Toyota’s fifth consecutive win at the event.
While Hyundai has endured a slow start to 2026, the extreme conditions of this year’s event left Neuville believing that “everyone has a chance to win” this weekend.
“Obviously it is going to be a massive adventure this weekend, and I think it will be an eventful rally. I’m really looking forward to it,” said Neuville.
“We have to take it step by step and see where we are. In this rally everyone has the same chance of winning and doing well. We think we have a good chance for a good result but in the past we have had some struggles here, so the task is to avoid those problems and then we will see where we end up.”
The 20-stage rally begins on Thursday afternoon.
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