Finland’s super star Kalle Rovanpera will be out for a third victory in Kenya, at the third leg of the 2025 World Rally Championship (WRC), the Safari Rally, to be held in the lakeside town of Naivasha on March 20-23.
The defending champion has alternated Safari Rally titles with his team mate Sebastien Ogier since Kenya regained the WRC status in 2021, with each winning twice.
Rovanpera won in (2022 and 2024 seasons including a runner up finish in 2023. He is now more determined to lead his Toyota Gazoo Racing outfit not only to another Safari victory, but a fourth podium finish in Kenya.
Since 2021, Toyota has swept the dais twice, with Rovanpera leading the 1-2-3 finish in 2022 as Ogier replicated the same in 2023.
Last year, Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux spoiled the party for Toyota after perching himself in third place in the competition that Rovanpera led Toyota to a 1-2 finish glory.
The first time Toyota had a clean podium finish in the Safari Rally was in 1993 led by their legendary driver Juha Kankkunen.
Rovanpera has had a challenging start in this year’s WRC series, placing fourth in the opening leg in Monte Carlo and a fifth-place finish in the Rally Sweden, perching him third overall on the standings as the global circuit heads to Naivasha next week.
Despite the ‘lackluster’ start, Rovanpera is eager to make amends to take control of the Safari Rally which has been his forte in the series since his debut in Kenya in 2022.
“We are now focusing on the next rally (the Safari Rally), which will be on gravel with a completely different tyre, we are working to be stronger there (in Kenya),” said Rovanpera.
“Sweden was a difficult weekend — we were trying to push hard but just didn’t have the pace or performance we wanted,” he admitted.
Rovanpera admits that adapting his GR Yaris Rally1 to the new Hankook tyres has proven trickier than expected for him, but he is learning.
The Finn remains optimistic that he will be in full control of the wheels before he hit the ground running on the rough Naivasha terrains, as well as in the coming legs of this WRC season.
“It’s another new thing, to be running on the gravel on the Hankook tyres, and we have to see how it goes. There’s not really much we can do as we prepare and test for the Safari Rally, I just hope it’s going to be working more in a way which works for me.”
Despite the early-season challenges, Rovanpera heads to Naivasha brimming with confidence, thanks to his impressive Safari record — two wins and a runner-up finish in the past three years.
Rovanpera will be leading Toyota to a fifth gong chase in Naivasha against formidable forces like the Hyundai Motorsports WRT and M-Sport Ford will be in the mix to hunt for the elusive crown on the punishing landscape that has left the last two bruised and limping in the previous editions.
Toyota, to compete in their Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 cars, has a formidable line up for this year’s Safari Rally comprising debutant Sami Pajari, Japanese Takamoto Katsuta, Rovanpera and Evans. [Additional reporting by wrc.com]
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