By Husna Muhdhar,
WRC Safari Rally 2021 champion Sebastien Ogier is aiming to retain his title in round six of this year’s World Rally Championship.
Ogier will be competing for the Toyota Gazoo Racing Team in the WRC, alongside co-driver Julien Ingrassia.
He has won the World Rally Championship eight times; from 2013 to 2018, 2020, and 2021.
Ogier will return to Toyota Gazoo Racing this week to defend his title at WRC Safari Rally Kenya slated for June 23 to 26.
Ogier goes into the East African race following his challenging performance in the Monte Carlo Rally in Portugal, where he came in second place losing out to old time rival Sebastien Loeb.
The eight-time world champion is expected to compete in the legendary Kenya gravel race against Loeb, once again pitting the two most dominant forces in the WRC in the last two decades.
This season, Ogier has competed in both a limited WRC campaign and a full World Endurance Championship program with LMP2 team Richard Mille Racing.
After long-time leader Thierry Neuville’s aspirations were destroyed along with his car’s suspension in 2021, the Frenchman claimed an improbable triumph.
After close to two decades of absence, the rally was reinstated as a World Rally Championship round last year, with Ogier defeating Katamoto Katsuta in one of the toughest rallies in recent memory.
So far this season, Ogier has made two cameo appearances, the first of which was in Monte Carlo, where he led the rally until a puncture handed long-time rival, Sebastien Loeb the lead and victory, but Ogier still finished second.
Ogier’s second excursion of the 2022 season in Portugal ended in disappointment.
He was forced out of the gravel road race due to two punctures; his car slid off the road forcing him to withdraw for the second time. He re-entered the race and finished 51st.
A total of 34 drivers have been confirmed for the 2022 Safari Rally Kenya scheduled for June 24-26 in Nairobi and Naivasha.
The Safari has 19 special stages totaling over 365 kilometers of racing.
The list contains 12 top-tier Rally1 cars as well as 10 cars in the WRC2 premier support category.
The event starts outside the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) and heads to Kasarani for the Super Special Stage, before heading to the Wildlife Research and Training Centre, Naivasha for an overnight halt.
