Takamoto Katsuta and co-driver Aaron Johnston have achieved their first FIA World Rally Championship victory at Safari Rally Kenya, continuing TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team’s unbeaten run on the epic African event.
Katsuta becomes the second Japanese driver to win a WRC round after Kenjiro Shinozuka’s victories on African soil at Rallye Cote d’Ivoire in 1991 and 1992. He is also the second Japanese driver to win the Safari following Yoshio Fujimoto’s triumph with Toyota in 1995 when the event was held as a round of the 2-Litre World Rally Cup.
While the Safari has a reputation as one of the most demanding rallies in the world, Katsuta has always performed strongly there, having scored three podiums from five previous starts, including his maiden WRC rostrum visit in 2021. Last year, the event also delivered late heartbreak when his attempts to snatch another podium finish ended in retirement.
Katsuta again entered this year’s edition fresh from fighting for a victory and finishing second at last month’s Rally Sweden and made a solid start to the weekend only to lose time on Friday afternoon with a double puncture, leaving him seventh overall and almost two minutes off the lead.
He didn’t give up, though, and focused on staying out of trouble on what was expected to be an extremely demanding Saturday. Sure enough, as other drivers, including his rally-leading team-mates, hit difficulties on the muddy and rocky stages, Katsuta climbed the order and found himself taking the lead arriving into mid-day service. He increased his lead to 1 minute 25.5 seconds over Adrien Fourmaux (Hyundai) going into Sunday’s final day and then carefully managed his advantage through the final four stages to secure victory by 27.4s.
Katsuta’s win completes a road to the top step of the WRC podium that began when the former circuit racer joined the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRC Challenge Program in 2015 with minimal prior rally experience.
His win is the sixth Safari triumph in as many attempts for TGR-WRT since the event returned to the world stage in 2021, and a record-extending 14th victory for Toyota.
The team’s five GR YARIS Rally1 cars filled out the top five places in the early part of the rally but heavy rain in the build-up and during the rally week made this the most demanding Safari Rally of the modern era and punished all the Rally1 cars – with only four completing every stage without significant technical issues.
The thick mud of the third stage on Saturday morning proved especially punishing for TGR-WRT’s top three cars at the time, with Elfyn Evans forced to retire with suspension damage and both Oliver Solberg and Sébastien Ogier stopping after mud caused contamination to the alternators on their cars.
Sami Pajari also lost around five minutes with significant tyre damage in Saturday’s second stage but went on to score his fifth stage win of the rally that afternoon and climb back up to third – ultimately securing his second successive podium and third in five events with co-driver Marko Salminen.
Solberg, Ogier and Evans all restarted on the final day to chase Super Sunday and Power Stage points. They each took a stage win across the day’s first three tests before Solberg and co-driver Elliott Edmondson prevailed in the Power Stage to top both classifications and secure the maximum 10 bonus points. Ogier and Vincent Landais were second in the Power Stage and Super Sunday, and Evans and Scott Martin third.
Evans continues to lead the drivers’ championship, eight points ahead of Solberg and 11 in front of Katsuta. Maximum Sunday points keep the team at the top of the manufacturers’ standings by 43 points.
Two GR Yaris Rally2 cars also finished in the overall top 10, with Gus Greensmith finishing sixth outright and second in WRC2 on his debut in the car and Diego Domínguez taking ninth overall and fifth in class.
Quotes:
Akio Toyoda (TGR-WRT Chairman)
“I have always hoped that a ‘Japanese rally driver who can win on the world stage’ would one day become an inspiration for children in Japan.
When there is someone to look up to, children and young people strive to surpass them. Kids and youngsters who work hard to surpass Takamoto will raise the level of motorsports in Japan. This victory has become a truly great gift to those young people in Japan. Thank you, Takamoto!
I want Takamoto to become an even greater source of admiration, and we can expect another show at Rally Japan!
On the other hand, we put our other crews through a tough rally. We can learn from this experience at the Safari and use it to get everyone back on the podium together next time. I am confident that the team will make it happen.”
Juha Kankkunen (Deputy Team Principal)
“The whole team is very happy to see Takamoto and Aaron win this rally. They have been close so many times and they really deserve this. Taka is a very good driver and to see a Japanese driver win a WRC rally again is really nice for us. The Safari Rally was also my first WRC win 41 years ago, and it’s something quite special to do it on such a difficult event. This was the toughest Safari we’ve seen since it came back to the calendar, and it was a rollercoaster weekend for us. To have three cars retire yesterday was quite a disaster but Oliver, Seb and Elfyn all pushed hard and did well today to get maximum Sunday points for the team. And with Taka delivering the victory and Sami on the podium again after another great drive with many stage wins, there is plenty we can be happy about.”
Elfyn Evans (Driver car 33)
“It’s definitely been a tough weekend. We tried to use our head but still we weren’t able to get the car through the whole rally. It’s like this, sometimes it happens in rallying like we know. I’m a bit disappointed with today also: we were quite slow in the first stage this morning and conditions were not ideal for us. We tried but didn’t get as many points as we would have liked. I’m pleased to still be leading the championship, and we can look forward to Croatia. I’m very happy for Taka and Aaron who have worked really hard and are very deserving of this win.”
Sébastien Ogier (Driver car 1)
“Today we tried to get as many points as we could, but it’s never easy to push to the maximum in these conditions like we had in the Power Stage. I just tried to drive clean in the ruts, and it’s possible to go faster if you really push it. Speed-wise I think it’s been a good weekend, but this is also the rally of the year where the speed matters the least. I’m really glad to see that Taka could still bring the win home for the team and for himself: it’s well-deserved for him after all these years of effort.”
Oliver Solberg (Driver car 99)
“The goal for today was to have one last push after the disappointment of yesterday. I just tried to turn it around and do the best that I could, and we ended up having a fantastic day, winning Super Sunday and the Power Stage. We did the best that we could possibly could to recover, so I’m really happy with the day. And if it couldn’t be us winning, then I’m also happy to see Taka and Aaron winning the rally. With all the hard work Taka does and the passion that he has, he really deserves it.”
Takamoto Katsuta (Driver car 18)
“It’s such an amazing feeling to achieve this result. It’s hard to describe how I felt when I crossed the finish line: it was just crazy. There have been so many difficult moments and these memories all went through my head. It hasn’t been easy but finally we are here. Thanks to Aaron who has worked so hard with me, and to every single person in the team, which has always been believing in me. Trying to manage today was really difficult, because you see every small rock and you try to avoid them. But we managed it without any problems, so thank you to the team for giving me such a strong car and strong support. We’re here because we never give up and we’ll keep working hard to achieve more results like this.”
Sami Pajari (Driver car 5)
“It’s really nice to finish on the podium again. This was a real adventure of a rally, a really tough one but that’s the nature of this event. The performance we had on Friday especially was really nice, and to take five stage wins is great. We had the speed but the most important thing today was just to reach the finish without any issues. Thanks to the team for keeping the car running all week. I’m super happy for me and Marko and also for Taka and Aaron taking their first win.”
PROVISIONAL FINAL CLASSIFICATION, SAFARI RALLY KENYA
| 1. | Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) | 3h16m05.6s |
| 2. | Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) | +27.4s |
| 3. | Sami Pajari/Marko Salminen (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) | +4m26.1s |
| 4. | Esapekka Lappi/Enni Mälkönen (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) | +6m07.3s |
| 5. | Robert Virves/Jakko Viilo (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) | +11m38.7s |
| 6. | Gus Greensmith/Jonas Andersson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) | +12m09.0s |
| 7. | Fabrizio Zaldívar/Marcelo Der Ohannesian (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) | +12m20.0s |
| 8. | Andreas Mikkelsen/Jørn Listerud (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) | +12m30.7s |
| 9. | Diego Domínguez/Rogelio Peñate (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) | +13m28.4s |
| 10. | Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) | +16m44.5s |
| 11. | Sébastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) | +17m30.7s |
| 13. | Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) | +26m20.9s |
(Results as of 18:00 on Sunday, for the latest results please visit www.wrc.com)
2026 FIA World Rally Championship for drivers after round 3:
| 1. | Elfyn Evans | 66 points |
| 2. | Oliver Solberg | 58 |
| 3. | Takamoto Katsuta | 55 |
| 4. | Adrien Fourmaux | 47 |
| 5. | Sami Pajari | 32 |
| 6. | Sébastien Ogier | 26 |
| 7. | Thierry Neuville | 25 |
| 8. | Esapekka Lappi | 21 |
| 9. | Robert Virves | 10 |
| 10. | Gus Greensmith | 8 |
2026 FIA World Rally Championship for manufacturers after round 3:
| 1. | TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team | 157 points |
| 2. | Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team | 114 |
| 3. | TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT2 | 35 |
| 4. | M-Sport Ford World Rally Team | 23 |
What’s next?
After one year away, the Croatia Rally returns to the WRC calendar on April 9-12 with a new home in coastal city Rijeka. The challenging asphalt roads feature a mix of fast and more technical sections, as well as constant surface and grip changes.
