Lor they achieved almost 30 years ago (29 to be exact), with the Celica Gr. A that ran from that one through the savannah, under the orders of the great Ove Anderson, in the hands of Juha Kankkunen, Markku Alén, the local specialist Ian Duncan and the Japanese Yasuhiro Iwase. Today, Toyota has reissued that great feat, once again capturing the first four places, no less, of the mythical Safari. An anthological result, insurmountable, led by the young man Rovanperäbrand new winner for the first time of one of the great classics of a World Cup that he dominates with pleasure at only 21 years old.
It is the fourth triumph that already addsin a span of six rallies, the Jyväskylä wunderkind, sole leader at mid-course, with a whopping 65 points over Neuvillebefore the two Baltic rallies (Estonia and Finland), where he also has everything to win.
Despite yesterday’s bump, the belgian finished fifth (with almost 11 minutes lost), behind Evans, Katsuta and Ogier, and as the winner, as in Sardinia, of the ‘Power Stage’. The consolation prize for him and for Hyundai, at the end of a weekend dotted with problems (the same as that of M-Sport), which has once again broken the morale of the Alzenau hosts.
RALLY SAFARI. Final:
1º- Kalle Rovanperä / Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1), 3: 40: 24.9
2º- Elfyn Evans / Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1), and 52.8
3º- Takamoto Katsuta / Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1), a 1: 42.7
4º- Sébastien Ogier / Benjamin Veillas (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1), at 2:10.3
5º- Thierry Neuville / Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1), a 10:40.9
THIS IS THE WORLD CUP:
pilots
1º- Rovanperä, 145 pound
2nd- Neuville, 80 points
3º- Today, 62 pt
4th- Katsuta, 62 points
5th- Breen, 60 points
brands
1st- Toyota, 246 points
2nd- Hyundai, 184 points
3rd- M-Sport Ford, 144 points
Source: www.marca.com