WRC Equator, Time for First Conclusions

Reigning champion Kalle Rovanperä became the leader after seven stages. He is 41 points ahead of Welshman Elfin Evans: 140 points for Rovanperä against Evans' 99. And the leadership of 22-year-old Kalle is hardly a surprise to anyone. Objectively speaking, he can be considered the most consistent driver in the series. However, the Finn did not have the same performance as last season - only one victory instead of last year's five. It is possible that the reason for this is the good form of eight-time world champion Sebastian Augier. Fortunately for Kalle, he does not participate in all stages of the WRC, but he remains one of the fastest drivers in the series and has already won three stages.

The WRC stage in Kenya was marked by the duel between Rovanperä and Ogier as a projection of the first half of the season. The 22-year-old Finn versus a 39-year-old Frenchman is a confrontation between Toyota partners and a struggle between experience and youth. From the first day of the Safari Rally, they led the top of the protocol and shared seconds between them: Ogier took the lead on the first day, and Rovanperä was catching up. As a result, from Friday's 22 seconds, Kalle reduced his opponent's advantage to six, which was the smallest advantage of the winner in the 70 years of the Kenyan stage history. It is worth emphasizing that Rovanperä often did not force events, took fewer risks, and made it clear that his main priority was to score points at each of the WRC stages. While Ogier felt like a free artist, he even ran into a rock, but still won his third race of the season and the 58th in his career.

However, statistics is a stubborn thing. And at this "checkpoint" - 7 stages of the season - it is worth noting that if the season continues as it is, Rovanperä 's chances of retaining first place in the championship are very high. Moreover, Kalle did not allow his rivals to rejoice and passed the difficult gravel rallies in Portugal, Sardinia and Kenya with dignity. But predicting the winner in the fight for the vice-champion title seems to be a thankless task. Four riders are in the six-point zone: Elfin Evans with 99 points, Sebastien Ogier and Ott Tänak with 98 points each and Thierry Neville with 93 points. Therefore, the intrigue of the second place is in the ‘zone of uncertainty’. For example, Elfin Evans, although he won a stage in Croatia, still has problems with both speed and stability. And Ott Tänak continues his phantom fight for the title mainly due to his moral and volitional efforts. After all, M-Sport Ford WRT fails to customize the car properly for the Estonian.

The situation is more clear after the Safari Rally in the Constructors' Cup. The gravel roads of Kenya have become a serious test of the cars' endurance. The African special sections of the track turned into a kind of quest with ‘surprises’ in the form of potholes, stones and pits. In addition, the Toyota teams were best prepared for such an ordeal. It was the Japanese who occupied the first four lines in the final protocol. Following Ogier and Rovanperä, two more Toyota representatives finished, Elfin Evans and Takamoto Katsuta. Representatives of Hyundai and M-Sport Ford seem to be ready to forget the African stage like a bad dream. The Spaniard Dani Sordo (Hyundai), who took fifth place, reached the finish line five minutes behind. Meanwhile, Ott Tänak (Ford) came in sixth and was more than nine minutes behind. After the reporting round of the Manufacturers' Cup, Toyota Racing is pulling away. The Japanese team is already 48 points ahead of Hyundai Motorsport: 285 vs. 237.

The World Cup is entering a hot phase. The stages are moving to Europe - Estonia, Finland, and Greece. This means that it is not track surface and the weather that will play a bigger role, but rather the pilots' skills and car settings. Mathematically, anything is possible in the 2023 WRC season. There is a favorite, but his position is not unshakable. Rovanperä will definitely have to withstand the attacks of rivals in the coming stages to defend his title. In addition, it is not entirely clear what Sebastien Ogier's plans are - which stages he will skip and which he will not. The stage in Estonia will take place at the end of July. There we will keep an eye on the intrigue there.