Toyota has dominated the Safari Rally Kenya in recent years, but this year its fiercest rival Hyundai also performed exceptionally well.
Toyota’s Elfyn Evans won the rally, but Hyundai’s Ott Tänak finished second and Thierry Neuville took third place.
On top of that, Adrien Fourmaux – who was forced to retire three times during the rally – had a strong showing on Sunday, securing 10 championship points as the fastest driver of the Super Sunday.
As a result, Hyundai managed to close the gap to Toyota in the manufacturers’ championship.
Toyota had dominated the Safari Rally for the past four years. During that period, at least two of the three podium positions went to Toyota. This time, however, only one Toyota driver – rally winner Evans – made it to the podium.
Kalle Rovanperä was forced to retire on Sunday, as was Takamoto Katsuta.
“The picture’s not quite as nice as in previous years,” Fowler laughed in an interview with Dirtfish.
Fowler, however, didn’t want to criticise his own team. Instead, he turned his attention to Hyundai and also praised the entertainment value of the rally.
“I’ve got to say congratulations to Hyundai,” Fowler said.
“This was a great round of the championship, without a doubt one of the most entertaining and action-packed rallies we’ve seen in years and those guys really came back at us strong,” Fowler continued.
Hyundai has struggled with reliability issues, among other things, but in Kenya the team managed to avoid major problems and bring the cars home in strong positions. Fowler was clearly impressed by the rival’s performance.
“The work they’ve done with their car from what we’ve seen in previous years on this event gave them serious pace, particularly on dry and rough stages, which put pressure on us for sure,” Fowler admitted.
“Of course, they’re our biggest rival, but every now and then you have to admit when you have been put on the spot. This is one of those times,” Fowler said honestly.
