The first day of Safari Rally Kenya 2025 has come to an end. Ott Tänak leads after the days two stages.
SS1
The event kicked off with a 4.76 km superspecial. Elfyn Evans took the stage win for an early lead. As the Welshman was 1.5 seconds faster than Thierry Neuville on the stage. Kalle Rovanperä was the third fastest on the opening stage. No major issues to report from SS1.
SS2
The first day of Safari Rally Kenya 2025 ends with an 8.27 km stage. Ott Tänak took home the stage win and subsequently took the event lead. Tänak was 1.1 seconds faster than Takamoto Katsuta on the stage. The gap between Tänak and Katsuta would’ve been less, however, Katsuta went wide on a corner into a field which cost the Japanese driver a bit of time. Gregoire Munster finished third fastest on the stage. Tänak takes a 2.4-second lead over Katsuta into the first full day of action tomorrow. Adrien Fourmaux retried on the road section between SS1 and SS2 due to an electrical failure. Neuville also lost 20 seconds on the stage due to an unknown issue.
Quotes
Juha Kankkunen (Deputy Team Principal)
“It is great to be back in Kenya for the Safari Rally. It’s something special for me to be here 40 years since my first win. Back then it was a big surprise for me to come here for the first time and win, but anything is always possible on this rally because there are so many things that can change depending on the conditions. All is good so far, with just two short stages complete and all our cars back in good condition. Tomorrow will be a much longer and tougher day and that will tell us a lot more. The first stage in particular looks quite tough, but everything is well prepared and we’re ready to do our best.”
Elfyn Evans (Driver car 33)
“The opening super special stage in Nairobi is a nice stage and we had a good, clean run through there. The second stage was tricky with the grip levels as the grass was damp and quite slippery in places. It was difficult to judge and not the best one for us, but overall it’s been an OK start. This is probably going to be the most challenging Safari we’ve seen to date. The weather could be a lottery like always, and the technicality and roughness of the stages also seems pretty severe this time, but we just have to try to make the best of it.”
Kalle Rovanperä (Driver car 69)
“This is always a special rally for us and we hope to keep that up on the 100th event for the team. Today we had no big trouble and pretty good pace, and we’re in a good position to start the real challenge tomorrow, when it will be a lot more about surviving the conditions. Already in the second stage we saw some very changeable conditions and I think we’re going to see a lot of that during the weekend. The best plan is to try to be fast and also consistent and hopefully avoid trouble.”
Takamoto Katsuta (Driver car 18)
“I’m very happy to be back in Kenya. It’s going to be a big challenge, more than in previous years, but I try to do my best. The second stage was already quite challenging after the rain; it was hard to judge which corners were slippery and I went quite wide at one point, but I’m still here. We could have this situation in many stages during the weekend, so it was a good reminder of what can happen. Tomorrow with some proper stages I’m sure we will see a lot of drama, but I feel comfortable with the car and just need to stay calm and be patient.”
Sami Pajari (Driver car 5)
“It’s good to start my first Safari Rally and it has already been quite interesting. Even in the first corner of the first stage, I had a stone come up from the other car and hit the windscreen, which was disturbing a little bit, and in the second one we saw some wildlife. There will be conditions that I haven’t faced ever before on any rally, but it’s all about the learning. Tomorrow will be a long day and I’ll just try to have a clean drive without mistakes.”