WRC Safari Rally 2026: Neuville tops shakedown as drivers warn of brutal race

Belgian driver Thierry Neuville and his codriver Martijn Wydaeghe splash through a muddy section at the Nawisa shakedown stage during the WRC Safari Rally Kenya 2026 in Naivasha. [Kipsang Joseph, Standard].

Thierry Neuville set the pace on Safari Rally Kenya's new shakedown stage as heavy pre-event rain raised fears of an especially punishing third round of the 2026 World Rally Championship.

Neuville finished the session quickest, 1.8 seconds clear of Toyota's Oliver Solberg, with Sami Pajari just 0.4s further back and championship leader Elfyn Evans slotting into fourth.

The Belgian, who heads the standings by 13 points over team-mate Solberg, had shared the joint-fastest time on the shakedown's opening pass with Hyundai's Adrien Fourmaux but said road order should not be decisive this weekend.

"It's looking like it's going to be a tough weekend, very extreme conditions," Evans said. "We've seen a bit of everything on recce and it should be the same on the rally as well."

Neuville, who described the event as "a good adventure," warned teams must balance pace with prudence.

"We need to find the fine line between going fast but not too fast," he added.

Three Rally1 drivers, Neuville, team-mate Esapekka Lappi and Takamoto Katsuta, completed three representative runs on the stage; Solberg's Toyota was quickest after the second pass. Fourmaux, meanwhile, was the slowest Rally1 runner after failing to better his initial time.

Reigning champion Sebastien Ogier, fifth fastest, said the intense rain had turned several sections into "survival" tests. Lappi, sixth on the timesheet, called the weekend "very wild" and likened the outcome to a lottery.

In the M-Sport camp, Josh McErlean edged team-mate Jon Armstrong by 0.7s, with Katsuta's Toyota splitting the duo.