Entries for 2025 World Rally Championships (WRC) confirmed with high anticipation increasing
The 2025 World Rally Championships (WRC)-Safari Rally is just a month away and preparations are nearing conclusion with an entry list of participating drivers released.
A total 39 drivers and their navigators have already been registered and approved by the FIA as at close of Friday, this week.
The list includes 14 Kenyan drivers and crew who have been clustered in different classes.
Leading the charge is returning defending champion Kalle Rovenpera of Finland alongside his trusted lieutenant in navigator Jonne Haltunnen in their Toyota GR Yaris Rally 1 car NO.69.
The Finnish pair who drive for the Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT are in class RC 1 in the competition slated for March 20-23, 2025 in Naivasha, Nakuru County.
Rovenpera is currently third in the WRC standings with 31 points.
Current World Championship leader Elfyn Evans of Great Britain is also in the list of the drivers coming through accompanied by his compatriot Scott Martin who will be his navigator.
The pair who drives for the Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT team is placed in class RC1 with their Toyota GR Rally 1 car NO.33. Evans,36, will be keen to extend his stranglehold of the top spot where he currently holds with a mammoth 61 points.
At the same time, Belgian racer Thierry Neuville of the Hyundai Shell Mobilis Rally Team returns to one of the toughest rallies in the world with a hope of reclaiming his title of 2021.
Neuville alongside his navigator Martijn Wydaeghe are currently fourth on the world standings’ with 29 points. They will be racing in a Hyundai i20 N Rally 1 and should be one to look out for.
Another contender coming to Kenya is the Estonian pairing of Otto Tanak and navigator Martin Jarveoja currently fifth on the log with their Hyundai Shell Mobilis Rally Team.
Tanak a former rally winner is also on a Hyundai i20 n Rally 1 racing car and he is presently position five in the standings with 26 points this season. He is also listed to compete in the RC 1 class.
The Kenyan contingent is led by veterans Carl Tundo and Tim Jessop who are 1994 Safari Rally champions. The duo will be driving a Ford Fiesta and are categorized under class RC2 Rally 2.
Another Kenyan who is a force locally and in the region is Karan Patel who is also participating this year alongside his navigator Tauseef Khan in a Skoda Fabia 2 car. The former Africa Rally Championship winner is clustered in RC 2 Rally 2 class.
Other Kenyans registered for the domestic rally event include; Jeremiah Wahome/Victor Okundi (Skoda Fabia RS), Hamza Anwar/Adnan Din (Ford Fiesta),NIkhil Sachania/Deep Patel (Ford Fiesta) and Jasmeet Chana/Ravi Chana (Ford Fiesta).
