TOYOTA Gazoo Racing World Rally Team is celebrating a fifth successive victory on Safari Rally Kenya after Elfyn Evans conquered the epic African event for the first time to extend his championship lead.

This year’s Safari Rally was widely acknowledged to be the roughest and toughest since it returned to the FIA World Rally Championship calendar in 2021, but an expert drive from Evans and co-driver Scott Martin ensured that TGR-WRT maintained its unbeaten record across that period.

They also provided the team with a victory to mark its 100th start in the WRC since debuting in 2017: the 53rd win and 123rd podium result that the team has achieved in that time.

Alongside an extended distance of 383.1 competitive kilometres, the Kenyan stages proved to be particularly demanding this year with the rocky terrain posing a high risk of damage to tyres and cars, and wet weather making Saturday’s stages especially treacherous.

While rivals showed more speed on the rally’s first full day on Friday, the more measured approach of Toyota and Evans paid off, and he led team-mate Kalle Rovanperä by 7.7 seconds at the end of the day.

Continuing to avoid major trouble despite the conditions, Evans’ advantage grew to almost two minutes by the end of Saturday, allowing him to take a safety-first approach to the final five stages on Sunday, and secure victory with 1 minute 9.9s still in hand.

Successive victories in Sweden and Kenya mean Evans now leads the drivers’ championship by 36 points after three rounds.

He and Martin were joined on the podium by Deputy Team Principal, Juha Kankkunen, who received another Safari winning trophy 40 years after scoring his maiden WRC win as a driver on the very same event with Toyota.

This latest win extends Toyota’s all-time record on the event to 13 victories.

Dolgellau’s Elfyn Evans said: “It’s amazing to have won this rally. It’s not quite sunk in fully yet but the Safari Rally is a special event to win.

“A huge well done to the team, who work very hard to give us an amazing car, and I’m proud to be a very small part of Toyota’s great history on this rally.

“It’s been a massively demanding weekend, probably the most extreme Safari we’ve seen since we’ve been coming here, and the weather added an extra twist on Saturday.

“It was not easy to manage the final day, having quite a big lead and needing to bring it home.

“There was the temptation of extra points to play for on Sunday, but in the circumstances it was important to get the car to the finish, and I’m very happy at the end of it.”

2025 FIA World Rally Championship for drivers after round 3: 1, Elfyn Evans 88 points; 2, Thierry Neuville 52; 3, Ott Tänak 49; 4, Sébastien Ogier 33; 5, Adrien Fourmaux 31; 6, Kalle Rovanperä 31; 7, Takamoto Katsuta 25; 8, Sami Pajari 19; 9, Grégoire Munster 16; 10, Mārtiņš Sesks 8

Up next is Rally Islas Canarias (April 24-27), new to the WRC for 2025, taking place on asphalt roads across the island of Gran Canaria and marks a return to Spanish territory for the first time since 2022. An abrasive surface, consisting partly of volcanic lava, should offer high grip.