Kenya Safari Rally (WRC) - 23-26 Jun 22

M-SPORT TAKES FLIGHT WITH KENYA AIRWAYS FOR SAFARI RALLY

Posted: June 23, 2022 6:59 AM

M-Sport is excited to announce an event partnership with Kenya Airways for the most demanding and difficult rally of the season, Safari Rally Kenya, round six of the 2022 FIA World Rally Championship.

The Safari Rally is one of Kenya’s flagship sporting events and a true spectacle that provides a real challenge for both crews and machines on some of the harshest terrain imaginable.

To prepare appropriately for this event, M-Sport required a logistics partner with local knowledge that is second to none as well as having global transportation expertise, Kenya Airways are a natural fit to help the UK based team carry out the transportation of team members and all five Ford Puma Hybrid Rally1 cars that will compete on the Kenyan classic.

Founded in 1977, Kenya Airways is the pride of Kenya’s aviation industry and the country’s flag carrier airline. The entire M-Sport team and its equipment will be travelling through Nairobi for the event, the location of Kenya Airways Head Office based at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

After returning from Rally Italia, the turnaround to prepare five Puma Hybrid Rally1 cars for Safari Rally Kenya has been incredibly tight, with every minute available crucial to the team.

Having Kenya Airways as a partner provides M-Sport an additional edge when preparing for the rally by ensuring the team and its equipment can benefit from a just-in-time arrival, helping us maximise efficiency and competitiveness.

To celebrate the partnership, Gus Greensmith’s Puma Hybrid Rally1 and the crew’s overalls will feature prominent Kenya Airways branding. In addition, the livery of all M-Sport Ford World Rally Team cars will incorporate an element of Kenya Airways branding.

Richard Millener, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team, Team Principal, said:
“I had to miss Kenya last year so I am really looking forward to travelling there this year and it is a point of pride for the team to be travelling with Kenya’s flagship airline.

Our partnership with Kenya Airways is a great opportunity for M-Sport to be associated with a national flag carrier that can support us with our logistical needs for such a demanding event.

We know from last year that the fans in Kenya are very passionate and excited about WRC, so we see it as a huge honour to bear the Kenyan flag on the Puma Hybrid Rally1 and celebrate this enthusiasm with the nation.”

Allan Kilavuka, Chief Executive Officer at Kenya Airways, said:
“It gives us great honour to be M-Sport Ford’s trusted logistical partner. Over the years, we have invested in upskilling our talent and diversifying our cargo portfolio to meet market demands that exemplify our competency, credibility and capacity as Africa’s partner for socio-economic growth.

"Last year’s Safari Rally ended a 19-year wait for the WRC’s return to one of its magical locations. Kenya Airways is committed to scaling this nostalgic experience for everyone across the globe this year.”

PUMAS READY TO GO WILD ON SAFARI RALLY KENYA

Posted: June 21, 2022 3:38 PM

The M-Sport Ford World Rally Team heads to one of the most iconic rounds of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) for Safari Rally Kenya, round six of the 2022 WRC calendar.

It has been another tight turnaround for the team, buoyed by its recent success and strong showing in Sardinia for Rally d’Italia, where Craig Breen claimed a well-earned second position backed up by Pierre-Louis Loubet in fourth.

Safari Rally is an exciting opportunity for all as nine-time world champion, Sébastien Loeb, returns to the squad for his third appearance in a Ford Puma Hybrid Rally1 this year. He returns to Kenya 20 years after his one and only Safari Rally experience to date when he claimed fifth overall. Since then, the Frenchman went on to break almost every record achievable in the sport, most notably claiming nine consecutive world titles. While the distance of the Safari Rally Loeb faced in 2002 is three-times that of today’s iteration, the stages remain as tough as Loeb’s own determination. And Loeb’s form hasn’t relented over time, increasing his record tally of WRC victories to 80 thanks to victory on Rallye Monte-Carlo with M-Sport back in January. His last outing with the Cumbria-based outfit saw him set stage-winning pace and lead Rally de Portugal before retiring from the event to due a terminal engine problem.

Safari Rally Kenya will be the ultimate durability test for the Puma Hybrid Rally1 cars, as well as a crucial assessment of how well crews can read the developing terrain, in order to identify which parts of stages to attack and which to simply survive through. What makes the event so special are the breath-taking views of flat-out WRC thoroughbreds leaving behind huge dust trails across awe-inspiring vistas littered with wildlife usually found in National Geographic.

The 2022 Safari Rally will compete across a bumper 362.62 kilometres, which could see the total time of the rally exceed three and a half hours after 2021’s itinerary competed a shorter distance, close to three hours and twenty minutes. It wasn’t short of drama either, last year taught everyone that despite it being a condensed version of the original Safari Rally, the stages themselves hadn’t been watered down in the slightest. The event was so demanding, that of the 56 entrants, only 11 crews completed every stage of the rally and only 26 finished the event.

The rally returned to WRC in 2021 with much anticipation and excitement after a near 20-year absence. Its return was met with huge amounts of passion and enthusiasm as the rally itself did not disappoint, with M-Sport challenging for the podium despite the Fiesta WRC’s scaled back development programme. The 2021 edition of the rally is a particular highlight for Adrien Fourmaux too, who set five top-three stage times and claimed his maiden WRC stage win on the final day of the rally. In the end, Fourmaux claimed a hard-earned fifth overall as Gus Greensmith claimed a career-best finish of fourth overall, positions both crews can expect to try and better on their second visit to the Kenyan classic.

Safari Rally sees M-Sport claim another first in the new hybrid era of WRC with Jourdan Serderidis becoming the first privateer to compete in the Rally1 category, using an M-Sport Ford Puma Hybrid Rally1.

Craig Breen, said:
“I am very much looking forward to Kenya and discovering what seems to be quite the adventure. For me, I’ll be discovering a new continent, I have never been to Africa before, so I will be soaking it all up.

“The Safari Rally is an incredibly prestigious and historic event that I’ve watched many times on the TV as a kid, so I cannot wait to see what it is all about. It will be a huge challenge for all the crews, but we have prepared well. Sardinia went well, and we want to try to carry that rhythm forward so we will try to bring home another good result this week.”

Sebastien Loeb, said:
“It was nice to be competitive in Portugal, the feeling in the car was good which is encouraging, Kenya is something very different, but it’s better to know we were competitive in Portugal. I don’t know the Kenya of today, all I have seen is onboards, it seems to be rough with big stones so punctures could be an issue.

“Kenya is quite amazing; it is a rally where I have the most memories with wildlife everywhere during the recce. I know the rally is very different to when I last competed there, it is more like a WRC rally, and it is easier to do it this way. The difference for me compared to the other rallies I have competed on this year is I have no experience of the stages in Kenya, I have never done them before so it will be complicated.”

Gus Greensmith, said:
“I am looking forward to Safari Rally Kenya, it is one of the best experiences, probably the best experience of the year to go and compete in Kenya. It is an absolutely beautiful place, but also the stages can be incredibly unforgiving on the cars.

“It is the biggest challenge of the year and probably the only rally where we cannot drive flat out on every stage. We do have to manage the wear of the cars and have some kind of mechanical sympathy. It will be a huge challenge; we were very strong here last year so we hope to have a good result together as team here this year.”

Adrien Fourmaux, said:
“Last year was a great result for the team, especially for me, I was really happy with what we did. Kenya is a really different rally to others, it is not all about pace and it is easier to damage the car because it is so rough. Kenya is really nice as an experience, it is a really different culture, and I will be very happy to see everyone there. Last year there were a lot of spectators, I remember in Nairobi there were a million people watching the cars going through the capital.

“There are a lot of things to say about this rally, the wildlife in the stages is quite impressive when you are driving and it makes the experience so special. You have to watch the side of the road to make sure there is nothing coming!”

Rich Millener, Team Principal, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team, said:
“This will be my first time in Kenya, I am very excited about the rally and just exploring a country I have heard so much about since watching the Safari Rally as a kid on TV. We enjoyed a good performance last year as a team and learned that this rally can be bit of a lottery, but we’ve got a good pool of experience for this one.

“Sebastien Loeb and Safari Rally is a combination nobody thought was possible a few years ago, never mind to be doing the rally in a Ford, which I think everybody is enthusiastic about. Speaking of enthusiasm, the one thing that struck me last year was the sheer scale of how many fans came out to watch this rally. I really cannot wait to share this wonderful sport with more passionate people and hope it highlights how much WRC means to Kenya.”

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing into Africa to defend Safari crown

Posted: June 21, 2022 3:35 PM

The TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team heads to Safari Rally Kenya on June 23-26 with the goal of defending its crown on the iconic African event.

The Safari made a long-awaited comeback to the FIA World Rally Championship calendar in 2021 when Sébastien Ogier led a one-two finish for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing. Ogier is making Kenya his third WRC appearance of the 2022 season as the team targets a 10th victory on the event for the Japanese marque.

The team’s first priority is to return to the podium after a challenging previous round in Sardinia, although Kalle Rovanperä still left the Italian island having increased his drivers’ championship lead to 55 points. Both Rovanperä and Elfyn Evans will be motivated for the trip to Kenya after experiencing its pitfalls on their debuts there last year. Takamoto Katsuta, on the other hand, travels back to the scene of his maiden podium finish (after finishing second to Ogier one year ago) as he looks to continue his 2022 scoring streak for TGR WRT Next Generation.

Having previously featured incredibly long stages on roads that were still open to the public, today’s Safari Rally runs to a format similar to other modern WRC rounds. Still, the drivers and cars face incredibly demanding gravel roads with some very rough and rocky sections, while the weather has the potential to dramatically change the conditions in a very short space of time.

Shakedown takes place on Wednesday before the rally begins on Thursday lunchtime from capital city Nairobi, with the nearby Kasarani super special kicking off the competitive action. The rest of the weekend is centred around the service park on the shores of Lake Naivasha, around 100 kilometres to the north-west. Friday’s repeated loop of three stages around the lake includes a brand new test, Geothermal, as well as the weekend’s longest: the 31.25 kilometres of Kedong. Saturday takes place further north close to Lake Elmenteita with two passes of three familiar stages from 2021, although Soysambu has been extended and Elmenteita itself will be run in the opposite direction to before. A trio of stages south of Naivasha are all run twice to form Sunday’s final day, including the new Narasha test and Hell’s Gate, which hosts the rally-ending Power Stage.

Quotes:

Jari-Matti Latvala (Team Principal)
“It was exciting to have the Safari Rally back on the calendar last year and even though the rally is very different to before, the spirit of the event is the same: it’s more about endurance than outright speed. At one stage it looked like it would be difficult for us to even be on the podium and in the end we finished one-two. So again this year we need to be prepared for anything to happen, and it will be another big test for the Rally1 cars. The conditions can look good during reconnaissance and then turn out to be very demanding in the rally. It’s not rough all of the time but you can get quite a lot of big ruts with many really soft and sandy places. But all four of our drivers can count on the experience they gained last year and have some idea of what to expect.”

Sébastien Ogier / Benjamin Veillas
Sébastien Ogier (Driver car 1)
“I’m looking forward to returning to Kenya. Last year we had a really nice welcome and a great atmosphere. It was something special and different to what we are used to. To win was the cherry on the cake and it will be great to try to repeat that this year with a bit of knowledge of what to expect from the stages. We saw that it can be a very tough rally; I think nearly everybody had an issue at some point and we came back from over two minutes down to win. So it’s definitely a rally where you have to never give up, and this year with the cars still being so new, we might have to be even more clever than before.”

Elfyn Evans / Scott Martin
Elfyn Evans (Driver car 33)
“Even though we have experience from last year, it’s always difficult to know exactly what we’re going to face on an event like the Safari Rally. There’s always an element of the unknown, and we saw last year that the conditions can change massively from one area to the next. Some sections can be very soft sand, some parts are much more hard-packed, and in other places it’s very rough. It’s a big challenge for the drivers, for the cars and for the engineers as well. I’ve had a good feeling with the GR YARIS Rally1 on gravel so far and the speed has been there. Safari requires something slightly different in terms of setup but hopefully that positive feeling will still carry forward.”

Kalle Rovanperä / Jonne Halttunen
Kalle Rovanperä (Driver car 69)
“I think the Safari Rally will be another interesting weekend. Of course Sardinia was maybe not as strong a rally for us as we wanted it to be, but I’m hoping that in Kenya maybe we will not lose so much time opening the road and we can try to have a good weekend. Last year, it was a good rally for us overall, we were just a bit unlucky to get stuck when we did at the end of Friday. This year we will try to avoid things like that and tackle the event in a better way, because we see a lot of difficult conditions there and things we don’t normally see in modern rallies. So for sure it’s a special place and you need to approach it a bit differently too.”

Hyundai Motorsport Preview: Round 6 - Safari Rally Kenya

Posted: June 21, 2022 3:30 PM

Hyundai Motorsport travels to the sixth round of the 2022 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), Safari Rally Kenya, with renewed confidence and a positive mindset following a dominant victory in Sardinia.

The Alzenau-based team will be aiming to build on its first win with the new Hyundai i20 N Rally1 in one of the season’s most gruelling gravel events next weekend (June 22-26). The trio of crews competing on the rough and rugged safari terrain will revert to the line-up that contested the first three rallies of the season: Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe, Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja and Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson.

The Belgian duo of Neuville and Wydaeghe led much of the 2021 edition of Safari Rally Kenya before being forced to retire on the final day of running. Tänak and Järveoja also performed well at the event, claiming third place overall, and will be looking for a second consecutive win after their impressive performance in Sardinia.

Although next weekend will be Solberg and Edmondson’s first outing at Kenya in the Hyundai i20 N Rally1, the young Swede did rack up some competitive WRC kilometres on the stages last year. All three crews will be hoping to learn from their previous experience of the Safari Rally to deliver another strong team result, which will be another crucial step in the championship fight.

The iconic Safari Rally Kenya made its long-awaited return to the calendar in 2021, 19 years after the last WRC event in Africa. Set amongst stunning scenery, the rugged roads of Naivasha are punishing, with multiple crews running into issues on the rocky terrain last season. Consequently, the focus for this year’s competitors in the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 will be to not only show solid pace across the four days, but to stay out of trouble.

The itinerary for Safari Rally Kenya consists of 19 stages across four days, totalling 363.44km in distance. Of all rallies with confirmed itineraries, it the longest event on the 2022 WRC calendar.

Deputy Team Principal Julien Moncet said:
“The victory and double podium in Sardinia was an excellent result for us and one that I felt the whole team deserved for their hard work and dedication so far this year. It also further demonstrated the pace and potential of the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 on gravel. Of course, Safari Rally Kenya is a very different type of gravel event; it is one of the most treacherous rallies on the calendar. The stages are relentless and simply finishing the event is an achievement. However, we head there with confidence in our car, our crews, and our entire team. The target is to maintain the standards we have set in the last few rounds and once again fight for the win.”

Crew Notes: Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (#11 Hyundai i20 N Rally1)
Belgians sit second in the standings after five rounds
Crew retired from the lead of 2021 Safari Rally Kenya

Neuville said: “Last year was my first time in Kenya and I have some good memories from it. It was a real adventure, as we got to discover the country, the culture, the beautiful scenery, and the wildlife. But unfortunately, we left feeling disappointed as we were clearly in the lead and could have easily won the rally if it had not been for a small issue. It is a rough event where you need to find a good balance between pushing hard and knowing when to take it slower. The weather can also play a big factor. But I feel comfortable on the stages and this year we are out for revenge, so that is what we are looking forward to.”

Crew Notes: Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (#8 Hyundai i20 N Rally1)
Pair claimed first victory of 2022 in last round, Rally Italia Sardegna
Estonians finished third at Safari Rally Kenya in 2021

Tänak said: “Last year Safari Rally Kenya was an incredible adventure, but also quite a big challenge. We thought it to be a very demanding event and it was, with rough roads and difficult terrain such as soft sand. It was also technically challenging, and we expect it to be the same this time. As always, the first priority is to keep the car together and finish. It is possible to push there 100% but you have to be careful not to damage the car in the process. Hopefully we can build on our win in Sardinia and get another good result in Kenya.”

Crew Notes: Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson (#2 Hyundai i20 N Rally1)
Duo returns to the Hyundai WRC line-up after a two-event break
Crew aiming to secure solid points haul in Kenya

Solberg said: “Kenya is going to be very exciting as it is a really special rally. It will be very demanding and tough, but I am looking forward to competing there in the Hyundai i20 N Rally1. The country and the fans there are amazing, so it is a place that you always look forward to, even if it didn’t go well in 2021. But this year there are new possibilities, and we will be going for it again. Weather had a big impact on last year’s event so we will see if that is the same next weekend, but even if doesn’t we expect it to be a real challenge. The aim is to find a good rhythm, keep the car in one piece and score a good result for the team.”

Weekend at a Glance
Safari Rally Kenya begins on Thursday with the Super Special Kasarani (4.84km)
Friday’s running consists of two passes each of Loldia (19.17km), Geothermal (11.68km) and Kedong (31.25km)
Two loops of Soysambu (29.32km), Elmenteita (15.08km) and Sleeping Warrior (31.04km) on Saturday make it the longest day of the event in terms of distance, totalling 150.88km
The rally concludes on Sunday with the crews twice tackling Oserian (17.93km), Narasha (13.30km) and Hell’s Gate (10.53km).

LOEB TO RETURN TO SAFARI RALLY WITH M-SPORT FORD WORLD RALLY TEAM

Posted: May 31, 2022 3:06 PM

On what will be his third event with the team, nine-time world champion and 2022 Rallye Monte Carlo winner, Sebastien Loeb, will enter Safari Rally Kenya in a Ford Puma Hybrid Rally1 at the end of June.

His most recent outing with the team in Portugal saw him claim a stage win on Friday morning, shooting from seventh overall into the rally lead before an uncharacteristic accident would see him retire from the event. Alongside his victory on Rallye Monte Carlo back in January, Loeb continues to prove his ability to get the best out of the Puma Hybrid Rally1 on all surfaces.

Loeb will launch into action again on the Naivasha-based event, 100km north-west of capital Nairobi. Safari Rally Kenya 2022 marks round six of the 2022 FIA World Rally Championship. The nine-time world champion will be joined again by Isabelle Galmiche, who saw him to victory in Monte Carlo and sat with him in Portugal.

This year marks 20 years since Loeb’s first and only appearance in Kenya so far, when he finished in a strong fifth overall and claimed three stage wins throughout the rally. Last year’s event underlined the importance of being able to read and react to the terrain, something Loeb is more than accustomed to thanks to his successful exploits in rally-raid competition.

The famous gravel-based event, that features stages around Lake Naivasha as well as forested areas in the north of the region, returned to the WRC in 2021 after a 19-year absence. The rally was a universal hit, featuring action-packed water crossings, jumps and even wildlife, making it one of the most iconic rallies on the calendar.

Sebastien Loeb, said:
“For sure it was nice to see we were competitive in Portugal with the Puma which was nice, it is good to know the Puma is very fast and competitive on gravel. Kenya is something very different to Portugal, I don’t know the current version of the rally, I have seen some videos of the stages which are very different, they appear to be rough with very big stones.

“Kenya is quite amazing; I think it’s the rally from where I have the most memories! At that time Kenya was very different, the longest stage was 120km long and we all had a helicopter over our cars announcing all the wildlife that we were approaching on the stage. Now it is very different and is more like a typical WRC rally, it is easier to do it this way but the difference for me compared to Portugal is I have no experience of these stages. It is always much more complicated when you arrive to a rally where you have never done the stages before, it will not make it easy but I am really happy to be going.”

Rich Millener, Team Principal, said:
“The team is thrilled to have Seb and Isabelle back with us again, on what is one of the most iconic events of the season. This is only our second time back in Kenya since the event re-joined WRC, and myself and the team are looking forward to returning with a four-strong fleet of Ford Puma Hybrid Rally1s.

“Seb obviously has a fantastic track record on gravel events, and his performance on Rallye Monte Carlo, and Portugal, while it lasted, showed us what both he and this car are capable of. With Safari Rally still a fairly new addition to the rally calendar, we have a pretty even playing field and think with Seb in the team we can really show everyone what the Puma can do.

“It’s always fantastic having Seb with us, the atmosphere it brings to the service park but also his drive and motivation is unparalleled, and something we all thrive off.”

Rally Guide / Details / Event Website

Posted: May 17, 2022 6:55 AM

Safari Rally