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President William Ruto presents the trophy to Takamoto Katsuta after powering to victory during the 2026 WRC Safari Rally Kenya in Naivasha on March 15, 2026. [PCS]
Mastery of route counted for nothing for local drivers at the end of the four-day Safari Rally in Naivasha.
It was another tough outing for the local lads.
They could not master the extensive challenges of this year’s event that ranged from heavy rains, mechanical challenges, time barred, stone throwing, inferior racing machines and lack of substantial sponsorships.
A concoction of all misfortunes a drive would not wish for.
Female duo of Pauline Sheghu and Linet Ayuko had the windscreen of their Subaru Impreza WRX-STI shattered by rogue fans who stoned their car around Eburu on Saturday.
This forced them to drop out of the rally.
“It is very painful and unfortunate that we could not finish the rally because of the reckless and mannerless actions of some people who broke our windscreen and side windows. What was supposed to be a beautiful rally for us has ended in tears,” Sheghu said in a press release to reporters.
She was pained saying the sport needs support and not destruction after they came through passion, sacrifice, and determination.
Former Kenya National Rally Championships (KNRC) champion Karan Patel was still in the rally in his Skodia Fabia.
Before the rally he had said he was fully ready for the event and would do his best to return to the podium.
“This time, we’ll do all in our means to ensure we improve on our performance and make it to the podium,” Karan, who featured in Rally 2, had earlier said.
African drivers also failed to impress owing to lack of advanced and comprehensive sponsorship packages and elaborate service teams enjoyed by European drivers,.
Some dropped out due to extensive damages on their racing machines but rejoined it upon fixing their cars by advanced service crew on Super Special Stage (SSS) Rule.
Good examples were Toyota Gazoo Racing duo of world champion Sebastien Ogier and the then racing leader Oliver Soleberg who enjoy great privileges from car manufacturers Toyota.
“It’s good (taking risks?) Of course. What do you think we’re here for? We’re not here just to drive and we’re not here to lose,” Ogier told WRC Website.
And mother and daughter crew of Tinashe Gatimu and her mother Caroline Gatimu dropped out after their car – Ford Fiesta, suffered extensive damages and could not be fixed on time.
They retired on Day Two of the rally and couldn’t make a comeback even on SSS Rule.
Lisa Christoffersen, who drove a Subaru Impreza WRX-STI in partnership with Christabel Mwangi, also suffered similar circumstances of adequate serving crews.
“We tried to fix our vehicle under all circumstances but we could not manage. We thank all our sponsors for believing in us to give us their full support towards this rally,” Christoffersen told KTN.