Kalle Rovanperä set the pace at Safari Rally Kenya shakedown ahead of reigning world champion Thierry Neuville.
At 3.2 miles, the Safari shakedown is longer than most in the World Rally Championship – but at 238 miles the event itself is also the longest since the 2018 Monte Carlo Rally.
Rovanperä beat Neuville’s effort by 1.6 seconds, with Ott Tänak and Adrien Fourmaux each another 0.3s back to form a Hyundai 2-3-4.
Hyundai is yet to win the Safari, while Toyota is yet to not record a 1-2 finish in Africa since the event returned to the calendar in 2021.
Takamoto Katsuta has been on the podium three times at the Safari and was fifth quickest on shakedown, 1.3s down on Fourmaux but 1.7s clear of the fastest M-Sport Ford: Grégoire Munster.
Championship leader Elfyn Evans was only seventh quickest, 6.3s down on Toyota team-mate Rovanperä, and his Toyota was seen being towed back into service at the end of the shakedown running.
Toyota sporting director Kaj Lindström told DirtFish: “They just contacted me on the way to the service saying they had an alarm, and it was better to stop. That’s all I know at the moment, I haven’t seen the engine yet.”
Josh McErlean, fastest WRC2 driver Oliver Solberg, and Sami Pajari completed the top 10.
However the major talking point from shakedown was the drivers’ response to Fourmaux’s fine from Sweden. Throughout the weekend, they are either set to deliver stage-end interviews in a language other than English, or refuse to provide comment whatsoever.
