Heavy rainfall has created a challenge not yet seen in the modern era of Safari Rally Kenya
Photography by M-Sport & Toyota
Words by Luke Barry
The rally organizers have made significant change to the route of Safari Rally Kenya, avoiding bad sections of fech-fech.
What they couldn’t control, however, is the weather. And heavier rain than normal has left the Safari stages soaked, like a mudbath in places and potentially more challenging than ever in the modern era.
Drivers completed their recce on Wednesday, and Gus Greensmith – WRC2 winner of the past two years – was the first to be met by the DirtFish microphone.
“I’ve never seen Kenya as destroyed as [I did on recce] yesterday,” he said. “Saturday is going to be really tough, but Friday looks a bit nicer.
“We had the pacenotes and the pacenotes made no sense because you couldn’t see anywhere you were going. It was just water. So it’s a very different type of Kenya and the water will not clear before the rally. No way. Saturday will be a mudbath.”
Sébastien Ogier is the only multiple winner of the Safari competing in the top class, but the Toyota driver has never contested the rally in March. His last appearance was in 2023, the final year of the rally running in June.
“I love the country here,” Ogier told DirtFish. “You know, it’s always a pleasure being here, seeing the people, the beautiful landscape with all this animals. So I think we enjoy definitely that side.
“The rally itself… well, it’s a big challenge. Probably this year more than ever, at least from what I’ve seen on my very first attempt here. Definitely rougher this year, a lot of water, so going to be a huge challenge to bring the car in one piece without trouble to the end.”
World championship leader Elfyn Evans described 2026 as a “pretty tough edition”, while M-Sport’s Josh McErlean labelled it “an exciting adventure”.
He explained: “You’re nearly guaranteed to be working on something throughout the weekend and it’s just trying to minimize time loss as much as possible and obviously have no problems. So we’ll try play it smart.”
Thierry Neuville is yet to win the Safari, peaking with third place at last year’s edition.
“It will be a big adventure and I’m sure we’re going to have a lot of fun,” he smiled. “But yeah, the adventure is definitely there. It depends just how hard it hits you and if it hits you in a good way or in a bad way.
“I mean anything is possible here – it’s a real survival as always. So yeah, we’re going to try to take it relaxed, with a smile whatever happens and try to bounce back when it’s difficult.”
Several WRC2 drivers are experiencing the Safari for the first time this week, including M-Sport’s Romet Jürgenson who admitted “it’s difficult to find words to describe what’s going on”, and his fellow Estonian Robert Virves.
“Let’s say it’s a bit worse than expected, but let’s see,” said the Toksport Škoda driver. “I think if if it dries then probably it will not be that bad, but still it’s quite interesting to understand how and where to drive with a rally car.”
Team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen is vastly more experienced than Virves, but is also a Safari rookie.
“I’ve seen a lot of rough rallies, but I never witnessed anything like this! So this will be proper survival, I think,” he said.
“We would like to do well, but I think the way to do well here is not the normal way probably. So we’ll just have to try to adapt to the conditions and just drive as the conditions will let you.”
Words:Luke Barry
Tags: recce, Safari Rally Kenya, Safari Rally Kenya 2026, WRC, WRC 2026
Publish Date March 11, 2026 DirtFish
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