KENYA: Elfyn Evans Leads On Opening Stage Of Kenya’s Safari Rally

By Lisbeth Micheni, Kenya 

World Rally Championship (WRC) leader Elfyn Evans, driving for Toyota, clocked the fastest time in the first stage of the 2025 Safari Rally Kenya.

The highly anticipated event kicked off on Thursday morning in Nairobi after being flagged off by President William Ruto.

Evans dominated the Kasarani super special stage, finishing 1.5 seconds ahead of teammate Kalle Rovanperä and Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville, who tied for second place.

Hyundai’s Ott Tänak secured fourth, followed by Adrien Fourmaux and Grégoire Munster, who shared fifth. Josh McErlean finished seventh, while Takamoto Katsuta came in eighth.

The rally has been marked by a silent protest from drivers, who continued to boycott post-stage interviews.

This follows the FIA’s penalty against Fourmaux in Rally Sweden for using inappropriate language. Evans only spoke in Welsh, Neuville in French, and Rovanperä gave a brief statement in English, thanking fans but refusing further comments.

In the WRC2 category, Oliver Solberg set the fastest time, edging out Fabrizio Zaldivar by 1.5 seconds. Last year’s winner, Gus Greensmith, ranked fifth in the category. Kenya’s Karan Patel finished eighth in WRC2 and 17th overall.

The day’s second and final stage, the 8.15-kilometer Mzabibu route, is set to start at 16:30 EAT.