2025 WRC Safari Rally Day 4: Evans on the cusp of first victory in Kenya
NAIVASHA, Kenya, March 23 - Elfyn Evans is a hair's breadth away from winning his first WRC Safari Rally Kenya title.
The Welshman holds a lead of over one and a half minutes with two stages of the third round of the 2025 WRC to go.
Estonian Ott Tanak and Belgian world champion, Thierry Neville trail him in the podium places in that order.
Here is what they had to say after finishing Sunday’s opening loop.
Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin- Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT (WRC1)
It’s been a good run today and the rest of the days. We just hope we can stay out of trouble and get the car home in one piece.
It was rough on the opening stage (Mzabibu 2) this morning, but we managed to cruise through. We hope afternoon stages will favour us in this quest for glory.
Glad that things have been going well for us since the start of the new WRC season. Hopefully, we will carry on with the good run in Safari and the rest of the series.
Being at the top on the Safari since Friday has not been an enjoyable position. You must do much to maintain the lead. You have a lot to lose than to gain when at the apex. We are trying to do our best to clinch this lead, we hope luck also eventually plays a role in it.
Ott Tanak/ Martin Jarveoja – Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT (WRC1)
The conditions were not easy this morning but there was no drama for us today. The target now is to secure our second-place position as we focus on the trophy.
We just need to get through the afternoon stages and finish the rally in one piece if we want to win this competition.
The opening two days of the Safari were quite demanding for Hyundai, was very tough, but we hopefully come out victorious today. Let’s see how it goes.
Thierry Neuville/ Martin Wydaeghe – Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT(WRC1)
I’m happy that we are back in good shape again in the Safari. We are very comfortable in the car and doing a great job with it as we should in the Safari. We had a good run this morning, no complaints. We are the leaders of the Super Sunday standings so far and this feels great.
We will try to have a fantastic outing in the afternoon, but we also must be cautious because there are always surprises in the rally all the time.
We have done the Wolf Power Stage many times and we already know the setup, there are lots of stones lying around and we need to avoid them all for us to rake maximum points.
Safari is always brutal, I still don’t feel it has treated me well this year after my four attempts in Kenya. We still have lots of issues with the car here, so many punctures and other mechanical problems, but again that’s what the Safari is really is.
