This is the day that motorsport enthusiasts have been waiting for. The Safari Rally is finally here with us and fanatics of the sport can't keep calm. It will be a tough test for World Rally Championship (WRC) drivers as the rally takes underway. The current top of the table, Kalle Rovanpera has tipped the rally to be more challenging than last year's event due to the changes made on the route. He drove the fastest on Wednesday in the 5.4km testing stage Loldia Shakedown. Rovanpera said this: “I am looking forward to a great week of Safari. The stages look tougher and rougher than last year. There are more rough parts while some stages are smoother than last year. The approach will be to try and avoid the mistakes of last year and a run clean rally this week." 

Thierry Neuville, the nearest challenger to Rovanpera was edged by five-tenth of a second through the nerve-racking warm-up stage with the location boasting of a picturesque Lake Naivasha.  Sebastien Loeb came 1.3 seconds behind in his M-Sport Ford Puma and this is what he had to say; "The pressure is not so much on me with championship standings being so good for us. However, I hope to stretch my lead on the Championship log after Safari." Last year Safari Rally champion Sebastien Ogier was the fastest on the block with his Toyota GR Yaris before Rovanpera posted the benchmark time on his second pass. This is what WRC reigning champion Ogier had to say; “I was not expecting such rough conditions as we saw on the recce and the roads are even softer than last year. I have been reviewing the terrain on the clips from last year and it seems that this year the rally will be tougher."

Neuville praised the Safari Rally saying that it was a very special event for his crew. In his words; "There have been changes in the stages. But the conditions do not look like last year. There are more stones, more ruts. Some stages have been repaired. It is a whole new event again." Only fifteen drivers took part in the shakedown.