NAIROBI, Kenya, March 16, 2026 – Newly crowned WRC Safari Rally champion Takamoto Katsuta has credited the Kenyan support for his epic triumph at this year’s edition in Naivasha.
The Japanese thanked Kenyans for their unwavering support over the years, describing how it spurred him to his maiden WRC victory.
“How do I say? I cannot find the words…special feeling. Big thanks to all the supporters here in Kenya and also all the African fans and everybody. Coming every year, they have been supporting us. I really appreciate how they’ve been supporting us,” Katsuta said.
The 32-year-old shed tears of joy at the finish line on Sunday, a stark contrast to the previous year when a pre-event crash at the Shakedown in Loldia brought so much heartbreak.
This time, lady luck was smiling at him with a wide grin as a dramatic sequence of events on Saturday saw him assume the driver’s seat in the overall standings.
First came the retirement of the then defending champion Elfyn Evans at Elementaita owing to a damage to the right rear suspension.
Then Oliver Solberg – who had been leading the competition until then – bowed out due to a broken alternator.
Second-placed Sebastien Ogier also saw his bid for a second Safari Rally title billow in smoke as he also suffered a broken alternator while on the way to the service park at the Kenya Wildlife Training Institute.
It was then left to ‘Taka-sun’ – as he is affectionately known – to put on a disciplined drive while watching over his shoulder for the marauding threat from Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux and Toyota teammate, Sami Pajari, who eventually finished second and third.
Reflecting on the competition, Katsuta said he was always wary of his closest challengers, especially Fourmaux, who was only 42 seconds slower heading into Sunday.
“Basically, last 3K, I was all the time looking at my GPS time to make sure that I’m not losing too much time. But in the last corner, when I turned the hairpin right, then I looked at the time and it was still like 20-something seconds slower than fastest driver,” the Toyota Gazoo Racing team driver.
He added: “Of course, you never know until you know the exact time so I was very nervous until the team gave me the information about what had happened. After that, I never forget that moment.”
With Katsuta’s victory, Toyota have cemented their reputation as the ‘kings of Safari Rally.’
Since the return of the competition to the WRC calendar in 2021, the Japanese automaker has triumphed in all editions of the Safari Rally.
Katsuta had kind words for his employers and how they have made him the rally driver that he is today.
“It’s one of the toughest challenges (Safari Rally) every year. Toyota is a very strong team and they’re giving us a very strong car. So, this is one of the reasons why I was able to win this rally. Unfortunately, very, really bad luck happened to my teammates. But, you know, this tough rally can happen like this,” he said.
Katsuta’s win makes him the second ever Japanese to win a WRC event since Kenjiro Shinozuka at the Rallye Cote d’Ivoire in 1991 and 1992.
