Toyota had dominated the Safari Rally for the past four years, but this time Hyundai mounted a strong counterattack. Toyota’s Elfyn Evans took the victory, but Hyundai’s Ott Tänak finished second and Thierry Neuville third.
Hyundai’s rally was crowned by Adrien Fourmaux’s performance on Sunday. The French driver, who had been forced to retire three times during the event, was the fastest driver on Super Sunday and left Kenya with a total of 10 WRC points.
Hyundai chose a different strategy for this season by deciding to run three drivers for the entire year. Previously, Hyundai’s third car had been shared between Esapekka Lappi, Dani Sordo, and Andreas Mikkelsen.
That aforementioned tactic backfired on the Korean team last year. The rotating drivers had long breaks between rallies and were not in peak form when they returned to competition. As a result, Hyundai lost many valuable points over the course of the season, and Toyota once again claimed the manufacturers’ title.
Hyundai team principal Cyril Abiteboul believes the team made the right decision in fielding three full-season drivers. According to him, this became clear in Kenya.
“On Sunday, we used Adrian in the best ways we could. So I think the three-car strategy we have is paying off nicely,” Abiteboul said with satisfaction.
Fourmaux was in strong form on Sunday and was able to put pressure on the Toyota drivers. Abiteboul felt that this had an effect on Toyota’s performance that day. Takamoto Katsuta made a major mistake on the final stage and damaged his car. The Japanese driver was ultimately forced to retire after failing to bring his car to parc fermé.
“Adrian was challenging Toyota, and in the end, Toyota probably made a mistake too,” Abiteboul suggested.
