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Safari Rally 2026 counts for:
2026 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers/Co-drivers
2026 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers
2026 FIA World Rally Championship 2 (for Teams and Drivers/Co-drivers)
2026 FIA World Rally Championship 3 (for Drivers/Co-drivers)
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| 671st WRC rally |
| Round of season: | 3 of 14 |
| Official name: | Safari Rally Kenya |
| Edition: | 73rd |
| Date: | from Thursday 12-Mar-2026 to Sunday 15-Mar-2026 |
| Rally HQ: | Nairobi; Kenya |
| Clerk of the Course: | George Mwangi |
| Surface: | Gravel |
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| Entries: | 46 | |
| Starters: | 41 | |
| Finishers: | 29 | (70.7% of starters) |
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| Stages: | 20 | |
| Shortest: | 8.86 | km | (SS2 Mzabibu 1) |
| Longest: | 24.94 | km | (SS14 Soysambu 2) |
| Slowest: | 63.70 | km/h | (SS1 Camp Moran 1) |
| Fastest: | 129.75 | km/h | (SS6 Kedong 1) |
| Planned stage distance: | 333.82 | km | (29.8% of total distance) |
| Actual stage distance: | 295.58 | km | (26.4% of total distance) |
| Road section distance: | 823.35 | km |
| Total distance: | 1,118.93 | km |
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| DRIVERS - PODIUM FINISHERS |
| | Win was 1st win and 9th podium for Takamoto Katsuta. |
| Second place was 10th podium for Adrien Fourmaux. |
| Third place was 3rd podium for Sami Pajari. |
| MAKES - PODIUM FINISHERS |
| | Win was 108th win and win and third place were 296th to 297th podiums for Toyota. |
| | Second place was 146th podium for Hyundai. |
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After SS11, Katsuta was still slowest of the Toyotas but over next stages all others hit trouble (Pajari had catastrophic tyre explosion, Evans suffered broken rear suspension, Solberg and Ogier retired with alternator problems). After that, Katsuta had good lead which he managed over remaining stages and scored his first win in a rally where he five years earlier had scored his first podium.
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Fourmaux (pictured) initially trailed Neuville but on morning of third day he went past. As Toyota was hit disaster when all except Katsuta retired, Hyundais moved up positions, elevating Fourmaux to second overall. On final day he pushed hard in the hopes that Katsuta might hit trouble but that did not happen.
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Jon Armstrong suffered punctures just like everyone else and here he tackles one of the muddiest sections. He finished 15th overall, unlike his team mate McErlean who retired twice, last time terminally with engine problems on final day.
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Related links
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Rally Sweden 2026
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Croatia 2026
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