During his own career, Kankkunen won the Kenyan event in 1985, 1991 and 1993. On Sunday, the rally legend from Laukaa added another Safari victory to his resume – this time as a team principal, exactly 40 years after his first win as a driver.
“I’m so happy. This was hundredth rally for the Toyota Yaris history and we won. We also won and I won this rally 40 years ago. So it brings tears to my eyes to remember that time when you watch,” Kankkunen said, visibly emotional.
This year, the Safari Rally truly showed its character. Rain turned parts of the route extremely muddy and incredibly difficult to drive. Practically every Rally1 driver encountered some sort of issue over the weekend, but Toyota’s Welsh star Elfyn Evans came through with the fewest problems. Evans delivered Toyota their fifth consecutive victory in Kenya.
“This was absolutely the toughest one I have never seen of the new Safaris. But I mean, surprisingly, nothing major things happened to Elfyn, even if a lot of things happening all the time,” Kankkunen summed up.
“So I must say that I was so much more nervous following it than when I was driving myself.”
However, this year’s Safari Rally wasn’t all celebration for Toyota. Kalle Rovanperä was forced to retire due to an alternator issue on Sunday morning. Takamoto Katsuta, in turn, retired on the final road section after rolling his car on the Power Stage.
Meanwhile, Sami Pajari equalled his career-best result by finishing fourth, thanks to Katsuta’s retirement.
