NAIVASHA, Kenya, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team (WRT)'s Elfyn Evans was on Sunday crowned in the new WRC Safari Rally Kenya in Naivasha, the resort town northwest of the capital, Nairobi.

The Welshman is the first British driver to win the iconic event since the late Colin McRae in 2002 - incidentally, the final event before the Safari Rally was stripped of its WRC status for the next 19 years.

"It's difficult to find the conditions you have in Kenya. Who knows, it's a long season, we are happy with our season's start, but there is a long way to go in the season," Evans, who was navigated by Scott Martin in a GR Yaris Rally 1 car, told reporters in Naivasha.

Having controlled the rally since the penultimate stage of the day on Friday, Evans had a controlled drive until the final stage of the day, the Wolf Power Stage, where he exploded to wrap up his win in style.

Winning the Power Stage at Hell's Gate in Naivasha gave the Welshman an additional five WRC points for the double celebration on the day. It was his third stage win of the 21-stage rally.

Behind him, the Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT duo, Estonian Ott Tanak and world champion Thierry Neuville, finished second and third in the best performance for their team at the rally.

Tanak had opened his Safari Rally on fire and had opened a 46.7-second lead with only two stages to go before car issues saw him slide to third at the end of Friday.

"In rally, this is something we will never know," the Estonian, who won the WRC title in 2019, remarked.

Tanak left Kenya with seven stage wins, the most in this year's Safari Rally.

Teammate and Belgian world champion Neuville landed on the podium after falling as far back as eighth by the end of Friday's action.

Neuville celebrated his first Safari podium on his fifth attempt, and the Belgian has not given up on going for the elusive win in Kenya.

"I think we got rewarded for the job we did. We kept on fighting, never giving up. We can't be totally satisfied because after four years of experience, it keeps going away.

"We want to get another chance and try to fight for victory. Four years ago, I was leading the rally until the last stage and leading by a minute before the car gave up. We want to keep going," Neuville said.

Elsewhere, Toyota's double world champion and two-time Safari Rally winner, Kalle Rovanpera of Finland, was the shock retirement on the final day of the event.

The Finnish star came short in the opening stage of the day after his car developed auxiliary belt problems.

Compatriot and teammate Sami Pajari finished his Safari Rally debut with a commendable fourth-place finish, swapping places with teammate Takamoto Katsuta.

Japan ace Katsuta, who won four stages in the rally, saw his GR Yaris Rally 1 limp to the finish after losing power in the final Wolf Power Stage.

Luxembourg driver Gregoire Munster brought the first Ford M-Sport Puma Rally 1 work's car home in sixth.

It was a British double in the Safari Rally when Gus Greensmith capitalized on his chief rival Oliver Solberg's misfortunes to win the WRC2 title.

Greensmith, piloting a Skoda Fabia RS, finished the Safari Rally in seventh overall.

Jans Solans (GR Yaris/eighth) and Italy's Fabrizio Zaldivar (Fabia RS/ninth) rounded off the top three in the second-tier category in that order.

Veteran Carl 'Flash' Tundo, a five-time winner of this event when it was not part of the WRC, was the first Kenyan in 15th overall in his Ford Fiesta Rally 2. Enditem

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