Reigning Constructors’ champions Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team (WRT) heads the 46-strong entry list for the WRC Safari Rally Kenya 2026.
This year’s Safari Rally will be held in Naivasha, Kenya, from March 12–15 and will serve as the third leg of the 2026 WRC season.
World Drivers’ champion Sébastien Ogier and last year’s Safari winner Elfyn Evans lead a strong, full factory team of five cars for the Japanese marque, which has won every edition of Africa’s WRC round since it returned to the global calendar in 2021.
Current championship leader Oliver Solberg, fresh from winning the season-opening Rallye Monte Carlo, two-time Safari Rally podium finisher Takamoto Katsuta, and rising Finnish star Sami Pajari complete the formidable Gazoo Racing WRT line-up.
South Korea’s Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team has also fielded a strong squad as it pursues an elusive first Safari Rally title, having been the only team to prevent a complete Toyota podium sweep since 2021.
Belgium’s Thierry Neuville, the 2024 world champion, leads the team as he attempts to overcome his history of bad luck at the Safari.
Frenchman Adrien Fourmaux, who joined Hyundai from British outfit M-Sport Ford, and Finnish ace Esapekka Lappi will drive the other Hyundai cars.
Irishmen Josh McErlean and Jon Armstrong will lead the M-Sport Ford charge, which has entered two cars to bring the total top-tier entries for the Safari Rally to 10 Rally1 machines.
Beyond the main category, top local drivers have also made strong entries, led by five-time Safari Rally champion Carl Tundo (during its WRC hiatus).
Two-time Africa Rally Champion Karan Patel, current Junior ARC champion Samman Singh Vohra, and last year’s WRC3 winner Nikhil Sachania are other notable Kenyan entrants.
The female competitors are also well represented, with local favorite Tinashe Gatimu returning alongside her mother, Caroline Gatimu, in a Ford Fiesta Rally4 entry that will score ARC3 points.
Pauline Shegu and Linet Ayuko have also entered in a Subaru, while Nairobi-based driver Lisa Christofferssen is also in the mix.