Kalle Rovanperä styled Kenya to win the World Rally Championship – one answer in the finish interview made us laugh: “As they say in Africa” ​​| Sport

Kalle Rovanperä was superior in the Safari Rally. In the interview at the finish, we saw a happy Finnish driver who praised his team profusely.

Kalle Rovanperä throttled to an overwhelming victory in the Safari rally ahead of his teammate Takamoto Katsuta and Ford, who drove third Adrien Fourmaux‘ta.

Rovanperä led the rally throughout the weekend, so the satisfied Finnish champion smiled for good reason in the finish interview.

– Winning here is always special when this is such a challenging competition. Toyota has always been good here and it continues to this day, Rovanperä said happily.

– As they say in Africa, the car at the top is always Toyota. It works well, Rovanperä laughed.

He was practically the only driver to make it through the weekend without a problem. For this, he thanked both his team and his map reader Jonne Halttus.

– Everyone did a great job to make the car work well. We did a good job with Jonne. I don’t think you can drive a better Safari rally than we drove, Rovanperä beamed.

Finally, he dedicated the win to his good friend, whose birthday is today. The reigning world champion refused to reveal when he will next be seen in the World Cup competition.

– I do not know. We have to wait and see, Rovanperä laughed.

Hyundai had a difficult rally, but Sunday brought balm to the wounds. Leading the World Series Thierry Neuville won the Power Stage and team mate Ott Tänak was the fastest of the sprint day. Both finally collected 11 MM points from Sunday.

Hyundai’s troubles started already on Friday

Rovanperä dominated the first long day of driving, when he drove the bottom time for every special test on Friday. This gave him a lead of almost a minute at the end of the day. Toyota’s triple lead was completed by Elfyn Evans and Takamoto Katsuta.

Friday was already sad for Hyundai. Esapekka Lappi had to stop at the first special stage of the afternoon after the gearbox broke.

– Changing the gear had no effect, only noise was heard. A few hundred meters later, there was no power at all, regardless of whether it was first or fifth gear, Lappi described his interruption in the service park.

In the next special test, EK 6, team mate Tänak jolted into second place after stepping on a stone on the road and drove fast to the bench.

Read more: Esapekka Lappi spread her hands in wonder – Kalle Rovanperä’s driving day ended in disaster for Hyundai

There were enough events on Saturday

The Saturday of the Safari Rally was one of the most eventful driving days in a long time. Rovanperä did a masterful flawless job at the top and didn’t suffer any problems, but all the other drivers had enough challenges.

Read more: This listing shows what a crazy day was seen at the Safari Rally – the expert bores the plowing Hyundai

Neuville also dropped out of the top fight when his Hyundai had a problem with the fuel supply. Tänak and Lapi also had enough problems on Saturday, but the setbacks were not only Hyundai’s problem.

For example, Toyota’s Elfyn Evans suffered several flat tires during the day.

At the end of the eventful day, Rovanperä led the rally by more than two minutes ahead of Katsuta and Adrien Fourmaux, who came in third.

At the same time, they grabbed the WC points, the condition of which was to clear the finish line on Sunday. Everyone also succeeded in this.

Ott Tänak Sunday’s strongest

The top drivers of the World Championship were aiming for important World Championship points on Sunday. Tänak and Neuville attacked hard from the morning, but Evans clearly secured more than his competitors. Rovanperä’s only task on Sunday was to secure Saturday’s WC points.

Neuville suffered a flat tire in the last special test of the morning and Lapi’s gearbox jammed again, so Tänak’s steady pace was important for the team. In the end, Evans was nowhere near the pace of his competitors, so Tänak took important World Championship points with the sprint day victory, as did Neuville, who finished second.

Tänak and Neuville succeeded in the Power Stage, where Neuville finally celebrated the top time with a 0.5 second difference to his teammate. Rovanperä also secured the 12th race victory of his career in the final stretch, but in the end was Power’s fourth.