After 19 years, WRC will return to Africa. Safari Rally. Very different from anything else that we can see during the season. And it looks like an amazing adventure once again. Our previews are based especially on results and experiences from previous rallyes and years. That is why it is more difficult to expect something. In last decade we have not seen anything similar to this. But let’s try at least something.

Favorites:

Ott Tanak
Ott was very unfortunate last two rallyes when he retired from first place. He is clearly the fastest and definitely found his lost form from Toyota. When we look at championship standing, he has nothing to lose and he really can go for victory. And odds 4.1 looks like a great value.

Sebastien Ogier
Favorite according to bookmakers. And he is definitely one of the favorites when we look at the last rough rallyes. He won in Acropolis, and he was very strong in Turkey in previous years. He is also the most experienced and that can be also important. On the other side he is first in the championship and he does not need to push necessary for victory. He will also be first on the road and it also can be a disadvantage.

Elfyn Evans
Evans is a reliable driver and really can gain a lot from the problems of others. In the last two rounds he took first and second place after retirements of his rivals. We should also net forget his victory in Turkey last year where basically all front WRC crews suffered puncture on one stage except him.

Takamoto Katsuta
Young Toyota driver in this season deliver very consistent results. In first 3 rounds he finished 6th. In last two rounds after problems of others took 4th place twice. Safari definitely looks like rally where reliable performance can pay of.

To see what kind of challenge crews will face we would like to show you two onboards. One is from SS2 probably on of the slowest of the championship. And second is SS10. Very open and fast.

SS2

SS10

And what is your prediction? Let us know on our social media 🙂

Autosport Guru.