Leb will contest the Rally Safari in a Ford Puma Hybrid1

Sebastian Leb will also start in the third race of this year’s WRC championship, of course with the Ford Puma Hybrid1 of the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team. The Frenchman, nine-time WRC World Champion, will take part in the Rally Safari at the end of June.

Leb’s last appearance with the team in Portugal was the fastest time on a special track on Friday morning, but the subsequent accident forced him to abandon the game.

The Kenyan race is based in Naivasa, which is 100 kilometers northwest of the capital, Nairobi. The Safari Rally Kenya 2022 marks the sixth race of this year’s World Rally Championship. Back in the cockpit of the Puma Hybrid Rally1, the nine-time world champion will be joined by Isabel Galmis, with whom he won Monte Carlo this year and also raced in Portugal.

This year marks 20 years since Leb’s first and so far only appearance in Kenya when he finished 5th overall and won a total of 3 specials. Last year’s race underscored the importance of “reading” and reacting to ground conditions, something Lemp is more than usual at thanks to his successful presence in rally raid racing.

The famous dirt race, which includes special tracks around Lake Naivasa as well as forested areas in the north of the region, returned to the WRC in 2021 after a 19-year absence. Last but not least, last year’s event was a worldwide success, with action-packed water crossings and wildlife jumping in the area making this one of the most legendary rallies on the institution’s calendar.

As the Frenchman noted, among other things: “Kenya is incredible. I think this is the rally I have the most memories of! Back then Kenya was very different, the longest special route was 120 kilometers long and we all had a helicopter over our cars, which warned us about the wild animals we would encounter there. “Now things are very different and it looks more like a typical WRC match.”