Toyota has won every edition of the Kenyan rally since its return to the World Rally Championship calendar in 2021. This time, it was Elfyn Evans who climbed to the top step of the podium after a challenging weekend.
Toyota Motor Corporation chairman Akio Toyoda followed the rally from Japan. Toyoda was delighted that the team was able to keep its winning streak alive – three wins from the first three rallies of the season.
Toyoda was also pleased to see Juha Kankkunen celebrating on the podium alongside Evans and co-driver Scott Martin. Kankkunen serves as deputy team principal for Toyota’s WRC outfit, taking charge at rallies where regular team boss Jari-Matti Latvala is absent.
“As a long-time rally fan, I wanted Juha to stand on the podium again at the Safari Rally, so I am grateful to them (Evans and Martin) for making that happen,” Toyoda rejoiced.
Toyota’s main rival Hyundai scored at least a solid counter-attack in Kenya, even though the victory still slipped through its fingers. Hyundai did manage to cut Toyota’s lead in the manufacturers’ championship by 22 points.
Check the latest WRC standings here.
Toyota ran into major issues especially on the final day of the rally, with both Kalle Rovanperä and Takamoto Katsuta forced to retire.
“We approached Kenya with thorough preparations based on four years of experience there. However, this year we faced new challenges once again. So many things happened up until the last day and the last stage,” Toyoda noted.
“I wanted to let Kalle and Jonne (co-driver Halttunen) drive until the end. I wanted Takamoto and Aaron (co-driver Johnston) to finish the rally with a strong result and I wanted to give Sami (Pajari) and Marko (co-driver Salminen) more opportunities to showcase their skills.”
According to Toyoda, the team now has work to do to ensure the coming rallies go even better.
“Starting tomorrow, everyone in the team will work on improving the GR Yaris Rally1 to make it easier to drive and stronger,” Toyoda underlined.
