The 2025 Safari Rally Kenya was one of the toughest in recent memory, pushing both drivers and cars to their absolute limits.
Every team faced challenges, with no crew completing the rally without some sort of mishap. However, as always, some drivers handled the difficulties better than others. This year, though, the rankings were particularly close.
Here’s DirtFish’s ranking of the (Rally1) drivers from the 2025 Safari Rally Kenya:
9. Takamoto Katsuta
Toyota gave Katsuta the green light to push on the final day after Kalle Rovanperä’s retirement, making it a subtle test for him. The goal was to show that he could be fast without jeopardizing the result, much like he did in Sweden. Unfortunately, he didn’t achieve that, and his mistake ended up costing the team dearly.
8. Adrien Fourmaux
Adrien Fourmaux put in an impressive drive on Sunday, securing all 10 points. However, his rally strategy was largely shaped by Hyundai, after his second retirement on Friday. Despite this, Fourmaux once again demonstrated his speed, showing potential to be a future WRC winner. A better decision regarding his puncture on Camp Moran 2—where he opted to continue with suspension damage instead of stopping—could have earned him overall points.
7. Josh McErlean
Josh McErlean displayed impressive determination throughout the rally. After breaking a steering arm on Saturday, he showed great resilience by changing it during a stage. His second-fastest stage time in the afternoon (helped by the rain) was a fitting reward for his efforts. He had no major errors all weekend.
6. Grégoire Munster
Munster ranks higher than his teammate for two key reasons. First, he secured a stage win during a time when the rain favored the cars at the front of the pack. Secondly, despite the heartbreak of losing his grandfather just before the rally, he handled it with such poise that even his team boss, Richard Millener, was unaware of the tragedy.
5. Thierry Neuville
Thierry Neuville broke his Safari Rally curse by finally securing a podium finish in Kenya. While it wasn’t one of his most spectacular performances, Neuville was steady and determined, particularly considering he wasn’t feeling well on Saturday. Aside from a jump-start on SS5, his effort was solid.
4. Kalle Rovanperä
Kalle Rovanperä certainly deserved more than he received. Before his unfortunate retirement, he was just 10 seconds behind rally leader Elfyn Evans. He paid a steep price for hitting a rock that broke his suspension on Saturday afternoon, but in fairness, no one else made that mistake.
3. Sami Pajari
Pajari had a clear plan and executed it flawlessly. He matched his best-ever WRC result (with some help from Katsuta on the final stage) and drove an almost perfect Safari considering his level of experience. He didn’t challenge for the top stage times, but that was a smart choice—he kept a steady pace and was rewarded with valuable points.
2. Ott Tänak
It’s tough to separate Ott Tänak and Elfyn Evans, but Tänak’s rally result gives him a slight edge. Although he was over 45 seconds ahead at one point, the Safari Rally could have easily been his. Unfortunately, a driveshaft failure on Friday afternoon left him with too much to do against the composed Evans.
1. Elfyn Evans
It may seem predictable to rank the rally winner as the top performer, but Evans truly deserved it. His drive was flawless, a characteristic that has become almost habitual for him. Find us a mistake, and we’ll reconsider, but Evans put in another error-free performance.