Led by Oliver Solberg, five Toyota drivers are in the top five after two of 20 special stages in Kenya – Hyundai leads the chasing pack
Official driving began on Thursday in Kenya at the Safari Rally, the third round of the 2026 World Rally Championship (WRC) season. Two special stages (SS) were on the program on the first of four days, with SS1, at 24.3 kilometers, being one of the longest stages of the entire rally. To make matters worse, this stage was marked by rain.
The fastest time on SS1 in the tricky conditions went to Toyota driver Oliver Solberg, who had triumphed at the season opener in Monte Carlo. At the start of the “Safari,” Solberg was lucky to escape the heaviest rainfall.
Over the 24.3 kilometers, Solberg was a whopping 30 seconds faster than his teammate, WRC championship leader Elfyn Evans, who had won in Sweden. At the finish line, however, Solberg also spoke of “crazy difficult” conditions.
Mud bath WRC SafariRallyKenya pic.twitter.com/xnqcE5FaxB
— FIA World Rally Championship (@OfficialWRC) March 12, 2026
On SS2, a significantly shorter stage at just 8.9 kilometers, the conditions were dry. The fastest time went to another Toyota driver, Sebastien Ogier.
Ogier was 4.2 seconds faster than Solberg, who was also beaten by two other Toyota drivers: Takamoto Katsuta and Sami Pajari in the WRC2 car. However, Solberg was again faster than Evans on SS2. In this case, the time difference between the two previous season winners was 3.3 seconds.
This means that Oliver Solberg leads after the first day in Kenya with a 33.3-second advantage over Elfyn Evans. Sebastien Ogier is third, already more than a minute behind, followed by Takamoto Katsuta and Sami Pajari. This means that Toyota completely dominates the top five in the Safari Rally standings after Thursday.
As Hyundai’s spearhead, Thierry Neuville is currently in sixth place, followed directly by the best-placed M-Sport Ford driver, Jon Armstrong. In the Hyundai camp, all three factory drivers—Thierry Neuville, Adrien Fourmaux, and Esapekka Lappi—had to contend with the threat of their i20 N engines overheating on SS2.
Eight special stages are scheduled for Friday at the Safari Rally. The third round of the season will comprise a total of 20 special stages before the finish on Sunday, with the Power Stage concluding the event as usual.