Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä joined this exclusive list on Sunday when he claimed his second career victory at the legendary Safari Rally. Rovanperä was downright dominant, securing the win with a margin of over a minute and a half ahead of teammate Takamoto Katsuta.
Shekhar Mehta holds the record for the most wins in the Kenyan WRC event, having triumphed in his home rally five times. Swedish Björn Waldegård celebrated victory at the Safari four times, while Juha Kankkunen and Colin McRae each won it three times.
Alongside Rovanperä, others who have achieved two wins include Miki Biasion, Richard Burns, Tommi Mäkinen, and Sebastien Ogier.
Joining the list of legends didn’t seem to faze Rovanperä much.
“It’s not super important, but it’s not bad either,” Rovanperä coolly remarked to RallyJournal.com.
Rovanperä’s participation in the Safari Rally wasn’t a given, as he is only contesting half of the WRC events this year. The rally was chosen because it fit better into the Finn’s schedule. The team’s other part-time driver, Sebastien Ogier, opted out of the event.
“I knew it was a good rally for us – it has been every year. So it was not an issue to come here,” Rovanperä stated.
There was no fault to be found in Rovanperä’s performance over the weekend. The Finn quickly built a gap to his rivals and then controlled the situation.
However, Rovanperä mentioned that the victory did not come easily, as the conditions were challenging.
“We were fighting the conditions the whole weekend, from Friday morning. So, it’s a relief to be at the end with a good rally.”
“I’m so happy with how we did it, to see all the struggles of the others with the car and the tires and stuff. Basically, we had zero issues with the car and the tires. I think you cannot really drive more cleverly in this rally. We had the speed, and we used it well,” Rovanperä explained.
