If you weren’t crying, the person next to you was.
Takamoto Katsuta and Aaron Johnston, finally, can call themselves World Rally winners after one of the most dramatic Safaris – events, even, – in recent memory.
Here’s what we learned from Safari Rally Kenya 2026.
Katsuta can win
For years, he kept getting closer and closer. But still that breakthrough WRC win eluded him.
Clearly, Katsuta had the pace to win events, but could he finally piece it all together?
I don’t mind admitting I wasn’t sure. And I’m equally happy to report that I was wrong.
This rally came to Katsuta when his three team-mates all failed to make it either out of Sleeping Warrior 1, or back to Naivasha on the road section afterwards (more on that below). But a rally as bruising as the Safari – especially this Safari – demanded diligence and dependability. Katsuta delivered both.
He never won a single stage, and that’s the perfect stat to summarize his performance. Once in the lead, not once did he look like dropping the ball – proving once and for all that he can withstand the pressure and win at the very highest level.
It’ll be fascinating to witness what effect this has on his career going forward.
Toyota isn’t indestructible
What’s made Toyota such an unstoppable force in the WRC is its blend of pace and reliability. It had one in Safari, but not the other.
It’s worth saying that none of the teams got through last weekend unscathed. M-Sport lost a car with sutained engine damage and Hyundai’s crews have never worked so hard in their lives on the road sections to stay in the rally; overheating the primary concern.
But it was rare to see Toyota hit trouble, let alone all three of the manufacturer-nominated cars in the space of a stage and the road section after it.
Including Evans in that group is somewhat facetious, as the Welshman’s exit was very different in nature to Ogier or Solberg’s; the latter pair left stranded with alternator trouble. It transpired Sami Pajari’s GR Yaris Rally1 developed the same problem, but he managed to keep his car running.
Does any of the above alter the perception that Toyota is the WRC yardstick? Absolutely not. But Ogier did little to hide his feeling that this should act as a wake-up call for the team not to rest on its laurels.
Ogier’s extremely unlikely to retain his title
When it comes to Sébastien Ogier, absolutely nothing is impossible. Last year proved it, with a world titlte snatched from the grasp of Elfyn Evans despite the Frenchman staying at home for three of the rallies.
That’s why you’ll notice the heading for this section uses a noncommittal phrase rather than a clear statement.
We must continue to treat Ogier as Evans has vowed to this season: a championship contender, even if he doesn’t appear to be one.
However if we hold Ogier true to his words last season that this year he’ll do 10 rallies (not 11 like last year), and examine the champinship position he’s currently in, it’s hard to see how the nine-time champion makes it 10 in 2026.
All four of his team-mates are ahead of him in the standings and he only scored eight points in Kenya – a total he never dipped as low as in 2025, even when a sudden puncture caused him to crash in CER.
The 40-point deficit Ogier holds to leader Evans isn’t disastrous, for he was as far as 51 points behind last year. But Ogier’s yet to find his peak form in 2026, so needs an emphatic comeback if he’s to remain in the picture.
Virves upstages Mikkelsen
Neither had taken on Safari Rally Kenya before, but both waded into battle to uphold Škoda honor in WRC2.
Andreas Mikkelsen would’ve been the safe bet. Yes he hadn’t rallied in the WRC since he was let go by Hyundai at the end of 2024, but his years of experience, two WRC2 titles and general prowess at being clever behind the wheel in Rally2 cars made him the safe shout.
Mikkelsen didn’t even make the podium. Instead, Toksport team-mate Robert Virves stepped up to the plate, and when double Safari WRC2 winner Gus Greensmith encountered gearbox trouble he pounced, and managed things superbly.
Both Virves and Mikkelsen (if he gets the budget he needs to see it through) will be title contenders this year, but Virves proved two very important things. He can win on strategic rallies as well as flat-out ones, and the notion that you must drive a Toyota to win in WRC2 these days – as Greensmith as good as said in explaining his decision to switch – is not true, in Kenya at the very least.
McErlean’s season showing no reprieve
Monte Carlo was an unmitigated disaster. Sweden provided some light at the end of the tunnel in the form of safe, sensible finish. Safari then ruined that building block in one fell swoop.
A fogged-up windshield on the opening stage contributed to McErlean exiting SS1 already almost four minutes off the rally lead. Eventual winner Katsuta was a minute behind at this point, but even at an event where patience and persistence is rewarded, this was bad news.
His Puma Rally1 then started overheating and that really spelled the end, as McErlean’s eventual retirement was linked to the engine with damage sustained through a watersplash. He also, in M-Sport team principal Rich Millener’s words, “hit a lot of Kenya” on Kedong 2 which caused a puncture and damaged his gearbox.
The irony is the first pass of that stage was one of the few he got a clean run at, and McErlean was equal third fastest with Thierry Neuville.
That’s the positive McErlean will cling to as he searches for momentum, all the while team-mate and Rally1 new boy Jon Armstrong contunies to impress his bosses.
The most extreme Safari of the modern era
The drivers predicted it, and they were right. This was the toughest, and the most extreme, Safari Rally Kenya of the modern era.
Heavy rainfall on the lead up to the rally made Thursday’s Camp Moran test, and truthfully all of Saturday (but particularly Sleeping Warrior) a mud bath, and ramped up the difficulty beyond 11.
The fact there was as much action on the road sections – with the two leading cars retiring and the Hyundai crews especially working frantically on their cars – said it all. This was as brutal as the World Rally Championship gets.
Was it too brutal? We asked the question of service park figures and won’t reveal the answers quite yet, but suffice to say Hyundai sporting director Andrew Wheatley hit the nail on the head when he mused this is a rally everyone will “have stories to tell from for many years to come”.
