Sawt Falasteen - 'Bin bag' Ogier edges Rovanpera to win Safari Rally

Ogier, who isn't driving a full season, came home just 6.7 seconds ahead of the 22-year-old Finn as Toyota claimed the first four places with Elfyn Evans rounding out the podium and Takamoto Katsuta finishing in fourth.

It was the 39-year-old Ogier's third victory from just five starts so far this season, his second in Kenya after 2021 and his 58th career win in the World Rally Championship.

Rovanpera's second place saw him consolidate his place atop the drivers' standings.

He is 41 points ahead of Evans and 42 in front of Ogier and Ott Tanak.

Belgium's Thierry Neuville (Hyundai), who had been second in the standings ahead of the Safari Rally, finished in eighth on Sunday.

However, he was then later disqualified.

Organisers said Neuville had "conducted illegal recce activities during the rally".

He is now down in fifth place in the title race, 47 points behind Rovanpera.

Victory for Ogier was far from a given, however, as he clipped a tree and ripped off his car's entire rear tailgate. He patched the gap using a bin liner to keep dust at bay.

"Unbelievable! Look at that, even on the Power Stage I got a stone on the windscreen!" Ogier said.

"We had a lot of issues to face but it could have been a more comfortable rally for us in terms of pace. A lot of misfortune but we brought it home."

Title-defending Rovanpera added: "You always want to fight for the win but we did our best starting first car on the road, so regarding that I think it's not fully bad.

"Good points for the season anyway."

The World Rally Championship returns to Europe next month when the super-fast gravel roads of Rally Estonia host round eight from July 20-23.

Q.Najjar--SF-PST