With over 200 starts in the World Rally Championship, and now nine world titles, Sébastien Ogier doesn’t usually find himself on the back foot.
And on the face of it, Safari Rally Kenya looks to be no different.
Elfyn Evans has won the rally once (last year), but no other Rally1 driver on the entry list has ever won in Africa. Ogier’s done so twice.
However, the real story is somewhat different. Yes Ogier has two Safari wins (2021 and 2023), but both were when the rally ran in June – not in its current March slot during rainy season.
And Ogier has not been to Kenya since his last victory either. So in reality, he’s starting the rally with a knowledge deficit.
“Actually for once, you cannot say that I have this advantage [of experience],” Ogier told DirtFish.
Ogier's a double winner in Kenya, but never in March
“Of course, I’ve tried to prepare a little bit, watching some video of the stages I haven’t competed last year, obviously. But the condition looks very different, though, with the rain of the last two weeks, a lot of water, a lot of muddy sections and most probably some rain still coming.
“We see showers every afternoon here, so let’s see when it falls, where it falls and at what time obviously can play also a big role this weekend because sometimes in 10 minutes the conditions change completely – comparing front-runner to last-runner, it can be a massive difference.
“We’ll have to see what the weather God brings to us, but a big challenge, like you say, with the roughness. And more than ever, the main target is to stay out of trouble.”
Ogier isn’t a driver who necessarily enjoys unpredictability, though. We need only cast our minds back as recently as January’s Monte Carlo Rally, with the crazy conditions resulting in him recording his weakest result at the Monte in a top-class car (third).
Safari is going to be another rally where there are elements outwith Ogier’s control.
Ogier prefers to be totally in control than to face the unexpected
“I think I mentioned many times in my career: I like to be in control, prepare everything,” he said. “And here, obviously, there is a big element of jeopardy. You don’t know what happened in many places and you need to react.
“But I like this sense of adventure as well, for once. It’s so unique here and the country I definitely love, so that’s a good reason to be here. But of course, that’s the kind of rally where you cannot really plan or target any result because too many elements are not in your hands.”
Devising a strategy is therefore difficult.
“It is, but you know, we always discuss that here more than ever, we should start clever and not, you know, not push too much and try to stay out of trouble. But then I know how it is. Stage one, everybody put the helmet, everybody start pretty much flat out!” Ogier added.
“And then very quickly things happen and I can expect already this afternoon, stage one, things [will be] happening because it’s very rough straight away, one of the toughest of the weekend straight away. But, you know, that’s rally, and yeah, I’ll try to use my head as much as I can.”
