It’s September, 2024. We’re standing under the baking sun that’s providing Lamia with its rays.
Given Sébastien Ogier’s powerstage tumble, and Thierry Neuville triumphant victory, attention is elsewhere.
To be frank, Elfyn Evans – narratively forgotten after a puncture and turbo problem on the first two stages – is barely a consideration. So much so that in a particularly chaotic end-of-rally media zone, we have to decide not to interview him.
But at the end of the powerstage, he did admit this: “Things have not been going well lately. We need to get back on the right track quickly.”
Six months on from those comments originally being made, it’s remarkable to consider the contrast.
It’s an absurd statement to link to Evans now, given his form in the rallies since reads: 2-2-1-2-1-1.
The driver who had already raised his head above the parapet in 2025 did one over on his rivals again last week at Safari Rally Kenya – and he did it on arguably the most demanding event this generation has ever faced.
The winner
It’s often said that rallies can’t be won on super specials; they can only be lost. Nowhere was that truer than on the Safari given 4.5 seconds split the Rally1 cars after SS1, and 1hr45m separated them after SS21.
But Thierry Neuville is widely recognized as a bit of a super special expert (he’s come a long way since Rally Sweden 2017…), so for Evans to defeat him by a handy 1.5s felt like a statement.
Confirmation even, that the Evans we’d seen in Monte Carlo and Sweden was out to play again in Kenya.
However narratively, just like he was back at the Acropolis, Evans almost became forgotten again. But this time, for all the right reasons.
Evans just got on with his job in Kenya - the job of winning
Nobody was spared of punctures; nobody could get through a rally as challenging as Safari 2025 without some sort of spin or mishap. But while his rivals all ran into troubles, Evans sailed away into the distance and managed things perfectly.
Even when he had an issue on his Toyota on the final morning – seemingly a similar problem to what sidelined his team-mate Kalle Rovanperä – barely anyone noticed. It was all just under control.
A fitting metaphor for the wider picture perhaps?
Clearly, we aren’t seeing the absolute best of Neuville, Tänak and Rovanperä just yet, but equally we are undeniably seeing the very best of Evans.
First back-to-back WRC victories, a run of podium results Toyota’s expected number one for the year has never got close to, and a larger championship lead than anyone has ever enjoyed at this stage of a season, Evans is setting a new standard.
Fast on tricky Tarmac at Monte, even faster on the quick snowy roads of Sweden, and now imperious on the punishing gravel tracks of the Safari, he is building his most credible case yet to become world champion at the end of the year.
Even if he didn’t feel totally elated to have drawn his name alongside legends to have conquered the Safari.
“Somehow the buzz of winning when you’ve been flat out, tooth and nail, swapping seconds is better than this in the end,” he reflected.
“But of course, it is Safari. It probably hasn’t sunk in yet. But yeah, I mean, it’s definitely a different mentality that you have to come to with this rally.”
A mentality Evans nailed to a T.
The relieved
“It’s a shame you wouldn’t bet on two Hyundais,” Tänak laughed at the end of the rally. But behind that smile must have been a sense of relief to have been through the mixer and emerged on the podium, along with his team-mate.
It was a situation exaggerated by Takamoto Katsuta’s powerstage crash, which cost Toyota another 10 points, but for once Hyundai heads could smile in Kenya as it notched up its first double podium, dominated Sunday with a top three on Super Sunday and the powerstage, and outscored Toyota by 22 points.
And for its two world champion drivers too, all things considered this was a good event.
Two Hyundais featured on the Safari podium for the first time
Both Hyundai men take 23 points home with them – Tänak for second in the rally and third in Super Sunday and the powerstage; Neuville the inverse of that – and they each would gladly have signed for that prior to the rally, given Hyundai’s poor track record at the Safari.
That’s not to say Kenya was perfect. Both were hit with reliability troubles – perhaps more painfully for Tänak who was building himself a handsome lead before trouble kicked in – but given the rich vein of form Evans is in, only dropping four points to him is no big drama.
Particularly when you consider Neuville shipped 15 and Tänak 20 to him last time out in Sweden.
Their respective 36 and 39-point deficits to the Toyota aren’t insignificant, but it only takes one bad rally for Evans to close that fight right up. Safari was quite literally damage limitation and it took its toll.
“At the moment, I would just like to go home,” Tänak surmised.
The loser
The man with a far more frustrating Safari, and thus far more worrying title prospects, is the one we all assumed would ultimately have the edge this year: Kalle Rovanperä.
I certainly did. My private synopsis to a loved one this year was: “Rovanperä can win even when he’s not at his best – and that’s what will make the difference.”
That’s not exactly how it’s worked out so far, is it?
Rovanperä is staring at a 57-point deficit to Evans after just three rallies
Just as Evans is setting himself new personal records, so too is Rovanperä – but not the kind he’ll want to remember.
A fourth, a fifth and a DNF – and the 31 points those results have yielded – represent his weakest start to a WRC season, and leaves the double world champion equal fifth in the table; 57 points shy of his championship-leading team-mate.
It’s a hell of a deficit, and the comfort of being grouped with fellow world champions Neuville and Tänak is now gone as they’re 18 and 21 points up the road.
At least Kenya was far more a rally of poor fortune than poor performance, with Rovanperä a contender for victory before punctures, his collision with a rock that broke his suspension and then the electrical gremlin that ultimately left him stranded and point-less.
But while that offers encouragement, it doesn’t change the reality of the situation.
Scoring no points from a WRC round is an extremely damaging (and rare) thing since Super Sunday was implemented last year. Guess which of last year’s contenders avoided that fate?
Yep, it was the one who won the championship.
Rovanperä has a job on his hands to pull himself out of his current plight
That’s not to say we should be writing off Rovanperä’s championship challenge – that would be absurd. Particularly when in Kenya, as said above, he looked far more like the Rovanperä we’re used to seeing.
But he’s now dangerously close to requiring others to slip up to give him a better chance – which is not good with 11 rallies left to run.
As he sat at the side of the road, staring at a flat Toyota instead of pointing it at the next apex, he contemplated: “I think the previous years have gone so well for us also that we used our luck there, and at some point you get all the bad stuff.”
The politics
We’d be here all week if we were to go through all of the chaos from the stages at this year’s Safari.
Electrical gremlins, part failures, punctures, crashes and the weather turning the roads into mud baths – all on top of roads the drivers felt were rougher this year anyway – suffice to say this was a survivor’s rally.
And fair play to Grégoire Munster for going through all of that when he’d just lost his grandfather a day before the rally – fifth place a result he definitely would have been proud of.
But perhaps the biggest talking point from the WRC’s trip to Africa was the fact there was no talking.
At stage-ends, anyway.
Following Adrien Fourmaux’s fine for dropping the F-word into his powerstage interview, the World Rally Drivers’ Alliance (WoRDA) was created as it sought a meeting with the FIA president in a bid to seek clarity.
As that meeting had not happened before the drivers arrived in Naivasha, they took a stand: no stage-end interviews other than in their native language.
This was not a protest – Tänak was very clear to point out that “it’s not a protest, you shouldn’t write this”.
Instead “it’s just that we don’t feel comfortable when the situation is like it is and as long as it’s not comfortable, you just can’t say anything, that’s the thing.”
What all parties want is a resolution.
The drivers don’t want to ignore stage-end interviewers, but they equally don’t want to feel uncomfortable, or scared, when providing what is a truly unique (and sellable) asset of the WRC.
WRC Promoter clearly loses out with the drivers not giving much, if any, comment, while the FIA does not want the grief of disgruntlement – publicly stating it will talk after the rally.
Neuville is sure a solution will be found
“Let’s see if they come up with something and look for some exchange,” said Neuville.
“I guess so, because it’s not a situation anybody wants. But it was important to send a message, and we had great support from all the spectators and fans.
“So I think it was really important and I’m sure that somebody will come up with an idea.”
Which is a fitting way to conclude, because behind the wheel Neuville and his world champion mates need to come up with their own, individual ideas to stop their rival’s charge towards attempting to join their exclusive club.
Safari was yet more evidence of who’s boss in the WRC right now. It’s up to the former kings to prevent a new rule.
