Tough Safari fails to stop Rovanpera
If you were among those who completed the 2022 Safari Rally, then you could count yourself very lucky indeed, or you were driving a Toyota. The second edition of the World Rally Championship’s revamped Kenya adventure was far more akin to the punishing marathon of old, where merely finishing this trip into the wilderness is an achievement.
After its return to the WRC calendar 12 months ago following a 19-year hiatus, organisers were happy, but felt it needed to be tougher. On reflection the rally organisers can tick that box as all the crews, and Hyundai and M-Sport in particular, can attest. But perhaps Hyundai’s Oliver Solberg summed it best when he said: “This is proper rallying.”
While this was a wilder Safari, it couldn’t tame the WRC’s new force of nature Kalle Rovanpera. The Finn took his fourth win from six rounds (and, incredibly, his third while opening the roads), despite facing a bolstered entry list that included last year’s Safari winner Sebastien Ogier, back with Toyota, and nine-time world champion Sebastien Loeb, who rejoined M-Sport for a second taste of Kenya,
