There was once a time when Safari Rally success demanded a Brit. As the nineties neared the noughties, Colin McRae and Richard Burns had the African classic in an almost vice-like grip.
Last week, Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin turned in a win which would have done either of their countrymen proud. It was a performance which drew significant similarities to McRae and Nicky Grist’s third and final victory in 2002.
Rewinding to the top of the tale takes us back to 1997 and what was then felt a fairly unlikely win for McRae. Colin had only tackled the Safari in a potentially rally winning car once (he was unlikely to win the 1993 event in a Subaru Vivio…) and, while he had secured his first world title, he hadn’t lost the reputation for the sort of flamboyance which sits awkwardly with winning in Africa.
But he did it. And he did it the hard way. Hustled to the finish by Burns’ Mitsubishi, McRae’s Subaru was wilting through the final day. The alternator failed on the Impreza WRC97 forcing him to kill the current feeding everything but the most crucial electrical parts. Without fans to cool the flat-four, the engine temperature soared to 130C, but he managed the moment and secured the podium’s top step.
With the Englishman one step down, that result was the first one-two for British drivers in the then 24-year history of the world championship.
Burns’ big moment arrived 12 months on. Even with McRae having won the Safari – and Corsica in 1997 – the difference in approach and driving style between RB and Colin remained a storyline for the 1998 Safari. And it was Richard’s strategic, head-led line of attack that delivered a heart-felt maiden WRC win. Again, it wasn’t without a final-day scare as his Carisma required a late sump change incurring road penalties and keeping the Ralliart team on its toes.
McRae’s 1999 win with the then still box-fresh Ford Focus WRC99 was a remarkable feat. Rivals demanded to know from their team bosses how it was possible that this car could win with so little testing time. Fact is, M-Sport build strong cars and McRae had more than mastered the art of winning as slowly as possible.
McRae's 1999 Safari win was one of the most startling in WRC history
Burns and co-driver Robert Reid had been leading McRae until a bolt sheared on their Subaru’s suspension, forcing them out.
While the Scot was sidelined with three punctures in one section a year later, it was an overheating Impreza which caught Burns’ attention. Chasing a second win in three years, the WRC99 refused to fire mid-way through the second leg. The answer? Pour cold water on the engine sensor telling the Subaru to stay silent. It worked. Richard won.
Tommi Mäkinen interrupted the flow of British success in 2001, with Burns suffering suspension failure while McRae departed the lead fight after tangling with a fence following a steering fault in the Focus.
That brought us to 2002 and what would be Africa’s last WRC counter for almost two decades. McRae was simply sublime.
Burns won twice in Africa while McRae won thrice - but Burns took his first WRC win there in 1998
Ford had landed into Nairobi with 50 spare dampers for the Focus. McRae broke just one of them. His team-mates Carlos Sainz and Markko Märtin were both struck down by engine gremlins, but the Saltire-flagged sister car just kept on keeping on.
Taunted by Harri Rovanperä in what was one of the Finn’s most impressive drives, McRae ignored the ever-present Peugeot, found his pace and drove his own race. There was a total serenity to Colin across that whole event. He knew he could drive faster, but he knew he didn’t have to.
At the time, Ford team principal Malcolm Wilson lauded it as McRae’s best-ever win – few would have predicted it would be his last.
Last week, admittedly on a dramatically different Safari, Evans picked the same line. He too had to watch as his team-mates faltered and fell. But, like McRae, he kept his nose clean, refused to give in to the temptation of turning it up just a notch or two and delivered a superb victory.
Is Evans’ Safari success as seminal as it was for his countrymen? Possibly not. Colin winning delivered another dimension to his driving and demonstrated how he’d matured as a world champion. For Richard, it’s impossible to forget the first one.
There’s not quite the same narrative for Evans. Sunday didn’t break any ducks and his story wasn’t quite so demanding of a result demonstrating head over heart. By his own admission, he’s more comfortable flying tenth-for-tenth through Finland than he is picking his way around the rocks either side of Lake Naivasha.
But this latest British-Welsh win could well be a decisive one on Evans’ journey to join the WRC’s more exclusive club, to which McRae and Burns were very much paid-up members.
