Less than 10 competitive miles into this year’s Safari Rally Kenya, and a Rally1 driver has reached for the super-rally rules.
For Adrien Fourmaux, there would be no run over the brand-new Mzabibu stage, as his Hyundai ground to a halt on the road section to stage two with electrical problems.
And that’s a worry, because it wasn’t Thursday’s “mickey mouse” stages that drew furrowed brows earlier in the week.
What might be called the real action immediately begins with the longest stage of the rally on Friday – but it’s the conditions of the stages that have drivers feeling trepidous.
“I think the first one already will show quite a lot – super tricky, very demanding and long at the same time,” overnight leader Ott Tänak remarked.
“So yeah, I think all day will be quite a big show.”
The Safari is characterized by its brutality – known the world over for its car-breaking nature and extreme challenge.
That challenge is only multiplied when the rain is involved, and in the lead up to rally week there has been significant rainfall in the region, creating mud baths and patience-testing terrain.
Factor in roads the drivers feel are “less prepared” than in recent years, and it’s not difficult to see why this is being touted as the most difficult Safari of the modern era (since 2021).
“It’s the craziest rally of the year, and this year I have to say it is much, much worse than ever,” Oliver Solberg told DirtFish.
“The roads look extremely rough and it looks like they haven’t really prepped the road, so you are just driving with what you see and driving through what you can basically – so it’s very, very challenging.
“The cars will get some beating that’s for sure, so it’s definitely not flat out as it is usually,” the WRC2 driver added.
“Normally you can go quite fast, but I think this year it’s very different.”
The conditions of the stages this year are a real talking point
One extremely experienced co-driver across rally and rally-raid, with close to 300 stage rally starts, believes the 2025 Safari is “probably the roughest rally I’ve seen in my life”, suggesting cross country rallies “are insignificant compared to this”.
World champion Thierry Neuville added: “Stage conditions are a lot greener, there’s a lot more grass, everything is hidden, many, many hidden stones and then very challenging stages as well – it will be quite tough for the cars.”
That all means there could be more flexibility in the lines drivers choose; Tänak predicting cars will be “quite a lot more in the fields”.
Last year’s WRC2 winner Gus Greensmith said the Elmenteita stage on Sunday will be “really like the old days” where “you just choose wherever you want to go”.
“I think this one’s going to be the toughest Kenya by a long way,” he predicted.
So what’s the secret for success on a rally like this?
“Have luck for sure,” smiled Takamoto Katsuta, who has three previous Safari podiums from four starts.
A strong and reliable car you can trust is key, says Katsuta
“The car needs to be strong, reliable and have confidence from that to be able to take the risk some places, but some places be patient.
“The car has been very, very strong [here in the past] and this year needs to be even stronger because stages are more tricky.”
Being the fastest is not necessarily the route to victory, as Safari rookie Josh McErlean explained.
“I think if you have a clean rally, no matter how far you’re off the pace, 1s/km, 2s/km, you could still be in the top five. It’s one of these rallies where you can have this approach and still get away with it.
“It’s just going to be take it day by day, stage by stage and corner by corner I suppose.”
The man who’s envisaging the “big show” tomorrow can have the final say.
“It all goes down to the feeling in the end,” Tänak concluded. “You feel how much the car is taking the punishment and basically how strong are the hits.
“There needs to be some kind of scale in your mind that it’s enough or you can take more or less, but this year the roads are not so much prepared, the grass is a lot higher, I mean, still also very much roughness under there, so it’s tricky part.
“I think you can’t really see the roughness, you only feel, so it’s going a bit blind, and I think fingers crossed it stays together.”
Friday’s action prompts an early alarm call if you’re in Europe, but it will definitely be worth it.
