Ahead of the final day of the Safari Rally in Kenya, all four Toyota are in front: Rovanperä on course for another victory – Hyundai chancelos after problems
Toyota driver Kalle Rovanperä is on course for his fourth win of the season at the Safari Rally in Kenya, round six of the 2022 World Rally Championship (WRC). In once again very challenging conditions with heavy rain in the afternoon, Saturday’s rally developed into a kind of Toyota one-make cup with international participation, as all four drivers in the Yaris Rally1 were united at the top of the overall standings.
Rovanperä is 40,3 seconds ahead of Elfyn Evans after 13 of 19 special stages (SS). Takamoto Katsuta is third, 1:25,6 minutes behind his Finnish team-mate, Sebastien Ogier is fourth, 2:38,3 minutes behind.
Drivers from other brands will not be able to take part in the fight for victory on the final day. Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) is already almost eleven minutes behind in fifth place. The Belgian was in third place until the last special stage of the day, but then crashed into a tree and had to park his car. Earlier, on the third special stage of the day, his team-mate Ott Tänak had retired due to an engine problem.
Rain causes slippery conditions and poor visibility
After the big dust in the morning was the big challenge, heavy rain turned the roads into mud tracks in the afternoon. The vehicles reached the day’s finish completely filthy, complaints about lack of visibility were the order of the day among the drivers – also for the leader Rovanperä, who also reported feeling unwell in the afternoon.
New livery after the end of SS13
: @quaggmaya pic.twitter.com/7xCqt71gVp
– Oliver Solberg (@OliverSolberg01) June 25, 2022
“I don’t even know myself how we did it. We almost went off twice in the water – we couldn’t keep the car in a straight line and I couldn’t see anything. I’m happy to be here,” said the Finn, who has the chance to extend his already large lead in the WRC standings on Sunday.
Oliver Solberg (Hyundai) is currently sixth, ahead of Craig Breen and Jourdain Serderidis (both Ford) from the M-Sport team, which also suffered badly on Saturday. Adrien Fourmaux had retired on the first special stage of the day due to technical problems, on the same stage team mate Gus Greensmith rolled off his Puma. Without a windscreen, he initially stopped his drive, but had to park the car shortly afterwards with a defective radiator.
Long final day in Kenya
Despite his own retirement on Friday, the numerous retirements have already pushed Sebastien Loeb (Ford) back up to tenth overall, which he occupies behind WRC2 leader Kajetan Kajetanowicz (Skoda). But even the WRC record winner did not come through the day unscathed. On the last special stage of Saturday, a punctured tyre destroyed the left front of his Ford Puma Rally1.
At the end of the Safari Rally, the crews can look forward to a comparatively long final day on Sunday with six special stages over a total distance of 82.7 kilometres.