WRC Safari Rally: I’ll Need A Little Bit Of Luck To Successfully Defend My Title- Toyota Gazoo Racing Speedster Elfyn Evans

_{Safari Rally defending champion (second right) and Toyota legend Juha Kankkunnen (third right) at the Toyota Showroom along Uhuru Highway in Nairobi during a meet and greet session and autograph signing for Kenyan fans. PHOTO/ TOYOTA KENYA}

_{Toyota has jetted in a formidable line up for the Safari Rally, including world champion Sebastian Ogier, to help the Japanese manufacturer nail a sixth Safari Rally title.}

NAIVASHA, Kenya- Safari Rally defending champion Elfyn Evans has indicated that he will need a little bit of luck to successfully guard his Kenyan title in the third leg of the 2026 World Rally Championship (WRC) that revs off in Naivasha on Thursday.

The Welshman heads to the Kenyan showpiece buoyed with Rally Sweden victory last month where he stretched his points to 60 and aided his Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team (WRT) to maintain a grip of the manufacturer’s leaderboard.

“Safari rally is one of those unpredictable events of the WRC, it is one leg which is quite open for anybody to win,” Evans told Standard Sports in Nairobi at the weekend.

While in Nairobi, Evans signed hundreds of autographs for his legion of Kenyan fans who turned up at the Toyota showroom along Uhuru Highway for a meet and greet session with the Toyota Gazoo Racing Team.

“I think I will need a little bit of luck to defend the gong, because so many unpredictable things are going to happen on the rough terrains of Naivasha this weekend. As a driver, you can never be so sure, so the only way is to keep on preparing and being ready at all times.

“Personally, I’ll try as much as I can to deliver the trophy home even though one can never be so confident with performance on the unpredictable Kenyan terrains,” he said.

Evans highlighted that winning the Safari Rally last season, his first ever title on Kenyan soil, impacted his life in various ways, among them the urge to know more about Kenya and deeply connect with its people and culture.

“Safari Rally is a cool event and one of those iconic legs in the WRC calendar, winning the title was a bit of an honor, it gave me some relevance to Kenya, the people and Africa.

“Through that victory, many of my friends have been enquiring more about Kenya, with many developing interests and the passion to visit the country. On an individual front, I dedicated time to know more about Kenya, especially on the tourism bit.

“Owning the title is enough motivation as we head for another round of the competition this Thursday and I’m inspired to put up a strong show at the weekend so I can get back to the podium again, of course as a victor,” he said.

Asked if he has any pre-race ritual, Evans said: “No. I’m one of those sportsmen who neither eat a particular food nor listen to any particular music. I will just prepare well before I head for the championship.”

Even though Toyota has started the WRC season on a high, with Swedish dare devil speedster Oliver Solberg bagging the opening leg in Monte Carlo and Evans winning the second outing in Sweden for the Japanese manufacturers, Evans says they are not sitting on their laurels.

“Last year, the season was quite stiff towards the end, even though we won. As this year progresses, we hope to maintain the same grip as we improve on many loose fronts that need tightening. We are trying to rectify some key events that we didn’t perform well in last year,” he said.

The strong Toyota lineup for the Safari, that includes Evans, Solberg, world champion Sebastian Ogier, Finn speedster Sami Pajari, Japan home boy and two-time Safari Rally podium finisher Takamoto Katsuta will spend a better part of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday doing recce on the unforgiving Naivasha terrains ahead of the shakedown and rev-off on Thursday.

“The recce will help us to be aware of what conditions to expect in the Safari this year. From it, we will be able to craft better and winning pace notes for the event. From the current outlook, it seems this will be a very wet rally, so this recce is quite important for us because it will indicate areas on where to adjust our pace notes,” Evans stated.

Since its return on Kenyan soil in 2021, Toyota has won both the drivers and the constructors titles of the WRC Safari Rally, including sweeping the podium twice- in 2021 and 2023.

Toyota lineup 2026 Safari Rally

1.Elfyn Evans- Wales

2.Oliver Solberg- Sweden

3.Sebastien Ogier- France

4.Sami Pajari- Finland

5.Takamoto Katsuta -Japan