WRC, Sportrik Media - Elfyn Evans was forced to retire from second position at the Safari Rally Kenya 2026 after damaging the rear of his Toyota Gazoo Racing GR Yaris Rally1 during a dramatic Saturday morning loop. The incident occurred on the Sleeping Warrior stage, ending Evans’ rally prematurely.
The Welsh driver stopped roughly five kilometres into the stage with severe damage to the right-rear of the car, leaving the wheel dragging and forcing him to pull over. The retirement marks Evans’ first in the World Rally Championship since the Acropolis Rally two years earlier.
Evans had started SS12 just 22 seconds behind rally leader Oliver Solberg. With his retirement confirmed, the championship leader will now focus on returning under restart rules to target additional points on the rally’s Super Sunday stages.
Further drama unfolded for Solberg later in the loop when he ran out of washer fluid, forcing him to reduce his pace on a mud-covered stage. Limited visibility cost the Swedish driver more than a minute to Sébastien Ogier, who set the fastest time.
Ogier had started the day just one second behind Solberg but initially dropped back to fifth after suffering a puncture on the opening stage. The French driver responded with consecutive stage wins and reached the midday service with a 42-second deficit to the rally leader.
“Not good. Ogier took a minute. What can I do? I have no spare tyres left and I can’t see anything,” Solberg said.
“I tried to be smart and Ogier is pushing I guess to take advantage. This didn’t help.”
Behind the leaders, Takamoto Katsuta moved into third place after Sami Pajari suffered two punctures on the right side of his car. The Finnish driver dropped to seventh, allowing the trio of Hyundai Motorsport drivers to move up the leaderboard.
At the end of SS12, Thierry Neuville, Adrien Fourmaux, and Esapekka Lappi occupied fourth, fifth, and sixth respectively. Neuville and Fourmaux both encountered overheating issues and were forced to stop on a road section to add water to their Hyundai i20 Rally1 cars before returning to service in Naivasha.
In the WRC2 category, Robert Virves maintained the class lead by 17.2 seconds over Gus Greensmith. With several stages remaining, the Safari Rally Kenya once again demonstrated its reputation as one of the most demanding and unpredictable events on the World Rally Championship calendar.
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