The 2021 Safari Rally (also known as the Safari Rally Kenya 2021) was a

motor racing Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of tw ...

event for

rally cars Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Demonstration (political), a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a United States school or college sporting event Sports ...

that was held over four days between 24 and 27 June 2021. It marked the sixty-eighth running of the

Safari Rally The Safari Rally is a rally held in Kenya. It was first held in 1953 as a celebration of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. The event was part of the World Rally Championship from 1973 until 2002, before returning in 2021. It is historically r ...

. The event was the sixth round of the

2021 World Rally Championship The 2021 FIA World Rally Championship was the forty-ninth season of the World Rally Championship, an auto racing competition recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) as the highest class of international rallying. T ...

World Rally Championship-2 The FIA WRC2 (previously also known as World Rally Championship 2 and WRC 2), is a support championship of the World Rally Championship. The calendar consists of the same rallies and stages as the main class and crews usually compete immediately ...

and

World Rally Championship-3 The FIA WRC3 is a support championship of the World Rally Championship. The calendar consists of the same rallies and stages as the parent series and crews usually compete immediately after WRC2 entrants. Entry into WRC3 is limited to cars th ...

. The 2021 event was based in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper h ...

in the

Nairobi County Nairobi City County is one of the 47 counties of Kenya. With a population of 4,397,073 in the 2019 census, it is the third smallest yet the most populous of the counties, also serving as the capital of Kenya. In 2013, the county entity was effe ...

and was contested over eighteen special stages totalling in competitive distance.

Colin McRae Colin Steele McRae, (5 August 1968 – 15 September 2007) was a Scottish rally driver. He was the 1991 and 1992 British Rally Champion, and in 1995 became the first British driver and the youngest person to win the World Rally Championship ...

and

Nicky Grist Nicky Grist (born 1 November 1961) is a Welsh former rally co-driver, born in Ebbw Vale. His factory team career in the World Rally Championship lasted from 1993 to 2002. He won 21 rallies with more than one driver. Grist's first WRC win was i ...

were the overall reigning rally winners, but they did not defend their titles.

Ford World Rally Team The Ford World Rally Team, also known as the ''Ford Motor Co. Team'' prior to 2005, is Ford Motor Company's full factory World Rally Championship team. In its current form, it has been a competitor since the 1997 season, when Ford Motor Compa ...

, the team they drove for in 2002, when

held a World Rally Championship event last time, were the defending manufacturers' winners. However, they did not defend the rally either as they withdrew from the championship at the end of .

Sébastien Ogier Sébastien Ogier (born 17 December 1983) is a French rally driver, competing for the Toyota Gazoo Racing Team in the World Rally Championship (WRC), who is teamed with the co-driver Julien Ingrassia. He has won the World Rally Drivers' Champion ...

and

Julien Ingrassia Julien Ingrassia (born 26 November 1979) is a retired French rally co-driver. Working with Sébastien Ogier, he became World Rally Champion in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016 with Volkswagen Motorsport, 2017 and 2018 with M-Sport World Rally Team, ...

won the rally. Their team,

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT is a World Rally Championship (WRC) team based in Finland that serves as Toyota's official factory team. Its team principal is former WRC driver Jari-Matti Latvala. The team made its début during the 2017 season, where ...

, were the manufacturer's winners. There were no classified finishers in the World Rally Championship-2 category. Local hero

Onkar Rai Onkar Singh Rai (born 29 May 1988) is a Nakuru-based Kenyan rally driver who competes locally and internationally. The Premier class driver is a former Kenya National Division 2, and back-to-back Nakuru Rally Champion. Rai participated in the 2 ...

and

Drew Sturrock Drew may refer to: __NOTOC__ Places ;In the United States * Drew, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Drew, Mississippi, a city * Drew, Missouri, an unincorporated community * Drew, Oregon, an unincorporated community * Drew County, Arkansa ...

won the World Rally Championship-3 category. At the age of ninety-one, Polish driver Sobiesław Zasada became the oldest competitor to start a World Rally Championship event.

Background

Championship standings prior to the event

Reigning World Champions

and

entered the round with an eleven-point lead over

Elfyn Evans Elfyn Rhys Evans (born 28 December 1988) is a Welsh rally driver. He is currently teamed with Scott Martin and is competing for Toyota Gazoo Racing in the World Rally Championship. Career The son of 1996 British Rally Championship Champion ...

and Scott Martin.

Thierry Neuville Thierry Jean Neuville (born 16 June 1988) is a Belgian rally driver who is competing in the World Rally Championship for Hyundai Motorsport. During his career, he has finished as runner-up in the drivers' championship five times (2013, 2016–2 ...

and

Martijn Wydaeghe Martijn Wydaeghe (born 1 September 1992) is a Belgian rallying co-driver. He is partnered with Thierry Neuville for Hyundai Motorsport in the World Rally Championship category. Rally career Wydaeghe made his WRC debut at the 2013 Rallye de Fran ...

were third, a further eighteen points behind. In the World Rally Championship for Manufacturers,

held a massive a forty-nine-point lead over defending manufacturers' champions Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT, followed by

M-Sport Ford WRT The M-Sport Ford World Rally Team (formerly M-Sport World Rally Team, Qatar M-Sport World Rally Team and Stobart M-Sport Ford Rally Team) is the privately run World Rally Championship team of M-Sport, the firm run by Malcolm Wilson that was previ ...

. In the World Rally Championship-2 standings,

Andreas Mikkelsen Andreas Mikkelsen (born 22 June 1989) is a Norwegian rally driver. He is currently competing in the World Rally Championship-2 for Toksport World Rally Team. He previously drove for the factory teams of Volkswagen, Citroën and Hyundai in the Wo ...

and Ola Fløene held a two-point lead ahead of

Mads Østberg Mads Østberg (born 11 October 1987) is a Norwegian rally driver. His co-driver is Torstein Eriksen. Career Østberg competed in his first rally in 2004. His first World Rally Championship event was the 2006 Swedish Rally, in which he finishe ...

and

Torstein Eriksen Torstein Eriksen (born 29 April 1990) is a rallying co-driver from Norway. He is currently teamed with Andreas Mikkelsen and is competing for Toksport WRT in the World Rally Championship-2. Rally career Torstein Eriksen began his Rallying, rall ...

in the drivers' and co-drivers' standings respectively, with

Marco Bulacia Wilkinson Marco Bulacia Wilkinson (born 27 September 2000) is a Bolivian rally driver. He currently partners with co-driver Marcelo Der Ohannesian in the World Rally Championship-2, WRC-2 category. His younger brother Bruno is a rally driver also. Rally c ...

and Marcelo Der Ohannesian in third. In the teams' championship, Movisport and Toksport WRT co-led the championship, with

in third. In the World Rally Championship-3 standings,

Yohan Rossel Yohan Rossel (born 13 February 1995) is a French rally Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Demonstration (political), a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held a ...

and Alexandre Coria lead drivers' and co-drivers' championship respectively.

Kajetan Kajetanowicz Kajetan Kajetanowicz (born 5 March 1979) is a Polish rally driver. Titles He is a Four time Poland Rally Champion (2010 2011, 2012, 2013). In 2012 he became champion in the Central European Zone Rally Championship. He also became the ERC ...

and Maciek Szczepaniak were second, trailed by Nicolas Ciamin and Yannick Roche.

Entry list

The following crews entered the rally. The event was opened to crews competing in the World Rally Championship, its support categories, the World Rally Championship-2 and World Rally Championship-3, and

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

entries that are not registered to score points in any championship. Eleven entries for the World Rally Championship were received, as were four in the World Rally Championship-2 and six in the World Rally Championship-3.

Route

Itinerary

All dates and times are EAT (

UTC+3 UTC+03:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +03:00. In areas using this time offset, the time is three hours later than the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Following the ISO 8601 standard, a time with this offset would be wri ...

Report

World Rally Cars

Classification

Special stages

Championship standings

World Rally Championship-2

Classification

Special stages

Championship standings

World Rally Championship-3

Classification

Special stages

Championship standings

Notes

References

External links

*
2021 Safari Rally
at eWRC-results.com * Th
official website
of the

World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is the highest level of global competition in the motorsport discipline of rallying, owned and governed by the FIA. There are separate championships for drivers, co-drivers, manufacturers and t ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Safari Rally, 2021 2021 in Kenyan sport Safari June 2021 sports events in Africa

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...