WRC Safari: Defending champion Kalle keen to make amends

Reigning FIA World Rally Champion Kalle Rovanperä will look to eclipse a miserable Rally Sweden with a strong outing at Safari Rally next week.

The Finn has finished first and second in the past two editions of Safari Rally, a similar result next week would help make up for his 39th-place finish in the snow last month.

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Rovanperä’s round two effort went south when he damaged his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1’s radiator on the opening morning in Umeå. Now he’s looking forward to Naivasha, and the unique challenge that is the Safari.

“It’s really exciting to go back to Kenya,” said the Finn. “It’s been quite a good rally for me and also for our team: we have got some really amazing results there. The atmosphere is also great so I’m really looking forward to it.”

He continued, “It’s going to be interesting to go there at this time of the year, during the rainy season. We expect that it could be much muddier, and already in the previous years we have seen a bit of rain and it is always really tricky and slippery in those conditions.”

The driver opens up on what could mess up their Safari outing saying, “The biggest challenge will be to have reliable pace for the whole week, be consistent and stay out of trouble. Rally Sweden didn’t go as planned, so I’m really hungry to get a good result in Kenya.”

By WRC.com