World Rally Championship: African adventure awaits at the Safari Rally Kenya

Making the trip from the snowy forests of Sweden to the African wilderness, the 2025 FIA World Rally Championship gets ready for adventure at the Safari Rally Kenya this week.

Last time out in Europe, it was a battle royale heading into the final day, with the top five crews at Rally Sweden separated by just 32.8 seconds after the first three.

Coming out on top in the end was king of the ice Elfyn Evans, as the British driver led Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT to victory again in his Yaris Rally1.

WRC

The Welshman delivered one of the finest performances of his career to seal his tenth WRC career win, matching the late Richard Burns on the all-time UK winners list.

That makes it two different winners from two events after Sébastien Ogier took success in Monte Carlo, with Toyota the dominant force so far across the 2025 season.

Now, all eyes will be on the third race of the campaign and the first gravel rally of the year with high temperatures and high stakes at the prestigious Safari Rally Kenya win.

With Ogier only contesting select events, frontman Evans is the man who holds a commanding lead in the points standings and could be on course to widen the gap here in Africa.

However, his Toyota teammates will be the first to acknowledge they will be out to topple the Brit, led by double world champion Kalle Rovenpera.

The Finn won the tough and demanding race here a year ago, but has suffered a dip in form this year, and will hope a return to his favoured surface will help to turn the tide.

Elsewhere, there is Rovenpera’s Toyota stablemate Takamoto Katsuta too, who finished second to the Finn in 2024 and then runner-up to Evans in Sweden this year.

Having fought the latter tooth and nail, the Japanese driver looks ready to take his first win, having narrowly missed out on a maiden triumph by just 3.8 seconds last time out. 

Looking to turn around their fortunes, and very quickly at that though, is the Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team, led by Defending champion Thierry Neuville.

WRC

The latter languishes in fourth place in the standings after salvaging a third in Sweden, and currently sits only one place ahead of teammate and 2019 champion Ott Tänak.

The Korean firm are determined to break Toyota’s dominance in Kenya since the race returned to the calendar in 2021, but they face an uphill challenge already the season.

The team will resort to an older spec car in the hope of finding the confidence and consistency when taking on the toughest rally of the season, with the Hyundai i20 Rally 1.

Adrien Fourmaux will race in the third for the team, who will hope to utilise the Frenchman's learnings from a first-ever podium for M-Sport Ford last year in Kenya this time.

The latter privateer team will meanwhile boast the relatively inexperienced 2025 line-up of Grégoire Munster and Josh McErlean as they descend upon Africa.

DAZN

They will be under the strictest of instructions to build the pace and bring the car to the finish as anything can happen on the bumpy and dusty stages.

Both drivers made forward steps in Sweden, and if everything goes their way, they could challenge for the rostrum and be on the cusp of silverware with the Cumbrian squad.

Other drivers on the hunt for overall points and a win in the WRC2 feeder series consist of Oliver Solberg (Toyota Yaris) who won in Sweden last time out and Gus Greensmith (Skoda Fabia) who will be eyeing a repeat of his 2024 Safari class win.

Local drivers are led by Karan Patel (Skoda Fabia) and Carl Tundo (Ford Fiesta), with both eyeing up a podium while carrying the weight of expectation from the home nation. 

Watch 2025 World Rally Championship on DAZN

The 2025 World Rally Championship is available through DAZN on its own dedicated app channel,  Rally TV.

It is available either as a dedicated Rally TV subscription, or as part of your existing DAZN subscription for a small add-on fee.

DAZN is the home of Rally TV worldwide, excluding Estonia, Finland, France, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden, China, Hong Kong and Japan.

Rally TV also broadcasts every race from the European Rally Championship.

Watch every WRC and ERC race this year on DAZN's 24-hour dedicated Rally TV channel. For more information on prices, subscriptions and more, click here.