The first place was Rovanperä’s second career victory in Africa and the first since last September’s Greek round. Competing in selected WRC events this year, Rovanperä once again demonstrated why he is a two-time champion.
Uncharacteristically, the usually reserved Rovanperä also praised himself.
“I think me and Jonne (Halttunen) did a good job, I don’t think you can have a better Safari Rally than we did. No issues, clever driving and I think it was a good effort,” Rovanperä said.
Rovanperä also shared praise for the Toyota rally team. Once again, the Japanese manufacturer’s car’s supreme reliability was rewarded.
“It’s always special to win here, also, a legendary event for Toyota. We’ve always been so good here and that’s continuing. Like they say in Africa: the car in front is always a Toyota,” Rovanperä indulged.
“A big thanks to the team, everybody made a big effort to make the car work so well.”
Team principal Jari-Matti Latvala was also brimming with enthusiasm. Toyota took its first win of the season after a couple of challenging races.
“I’m very happy. This is our first victory of the season. Couple of rounds has been a bit tough, but now getting the victory here and in style. I must say that Kalle was really dominating the rally from the beginning,” Latvala praised.
“His approach was very clever. He didn’t have any issues during the weekend, thanks to the team providing such a good car. Also, the way he was able to drive and think about the sections was impressive. It’s about knowing when to attack and when to preserve the car. It was brilliant.”
Takamoto Katsuta secured a Toyota one-two finish, earning his third career podium in Kenya. Katsuta crashed out of the victory battle in Sweden in the previous race, so the result in Kenya was a welcome salve.
“This seems to be the rally which he really loves and I’m so happy to see him on the podium. It’s good to have a second place, because Sweden was a bit of a disappointment. He had a great speed over there and then, at the end he did a little mistake and had big consequences,” Latvala reflected.
“Elfyn (Evans) was fighting really hard. But he didn’t have the best rally because this time the luck wasn’t on his side with the punctures, but this is rallying and we just need to go forward.”
