Former Finland and British Rally Champion Tapio Laukannen has added another milestone to his rally career after winning the 65th edition of the Safari Rally.
The Multiple Rally Team driver showed earlier intent for victory posting the fastest time on day one.
But Tapio’s lead had come under threat with Ian Duncan closing in on the rally lead. His resilience however got him through the last stage as he claimed the famous Safari win..
“The event has been quite fine for us with no major mechanical concerns. Its only today that we got lost in a stage and lost like three minutes, but luckily enough we managed to get back on track.
“This victory is a big bonus for us, we are very happy having gone through the event very well,” said Laukannen.
Navigated by Guvin Laurence, Laukannen covered the 201.54 Kilometre distance in 1hour, 54minutes and 12seconds.
Ian Duncan and Ammar Slatch missed the victory losing the battle in the last stage. They settled for second overall, 22 seconds behind the leader.
Carl Tundo sealed the podium in third followed by Onkar Rai and Karan Patel in fifth.
Meanwhile, only two Africa Rally Championship contenders were eligible to score points.
Carlo Tundo tops the championship with 15 points after finishing third while Jaspreet Chatthe after finishing sixth overall gets eight points for ARC.