After a five-week spell without any World Rally Championship action, the 2025 season springs back into life with Safari Rally Kenya.
On a rally as demanding as the Safari, drama is all-but guaranteed across all the classes. But who will conquer its unique challenge? Ten drivers will field top-class cars on this week’s trip to Kenya.
That means four Toyotas for early championship leader Elfyn Evans, his closest rival that’s present Kalle Rovanperä, Sweden podium finisher Takamoto Katsuta and TGR WRT2 entrant Sami Pajari.
Hyundai is three-strong with world champion Thierry Neuville, fellow world beater Ott Tänak and Adrien Fourmaux, while M-Sport Ford will run Grégoire Munster and Josh McErlean in addition to privateer Jourdan Serderidis.
As has become tradition, the Safari gets underway with the Kasarani superspecial on Thursday afternoon, although this year the stage will run in the opposite direction to previous years.
Friday is the longest day of the rally with eight stages, four repeated in the afternoon, beginning with another brand-new test: Camp Moran, which is also the longest of the rally at 20 miles.
Loldia, Geothermal and Kedong are all staples of the Safari itinerary but feature mild tweaks to 2024. Loldia and Kedong have been reversed with the latter also shortened, while Geothermal has a new start section on Tarmac.
Saturday takes the rally further north for a familiar loop of Sleeping Warrior, Elmenteita and Soysambu. But in a twist, the famed Sleeping Warrior stage now runs at the head of the loop instead of the end.
With five stages totalling 41 miles, Sunday features mild tweaks to last year with the Malewa stage no longer featuring.
The stage is set for Kenya. Can Evans keep his stride at the top? All will be unveiled for round 3 of the FIA World Rally Championship.
