The Safari Rally is one of the events in which the general classification risks undergoing real jolts special after special, or almost so. Again this assumption found truth with Kalle Rovanpera who returned menacingly behind Sébastien Ogier.
The reigning Toyota Racing world champion won the SS4, the 30.62 kilometer Kedong 1, despite having started first. It was already clear after a few laps that the first position going into practice was the best ever, and Kalle was very good at exploiting the opportunity.
Thanks to this time and Sébastien Ogier’s simultaneous third at 9″4, the fight for first place has reopened. Ogier continues to command the general classification, but now his margin over his teammate is just 2″5 at the end of the morning lap of today’s stage.
For Ogier the last test of the morning was not good in terms of timing due to a failure in the hybrid system of his Toyota GR Yaris. The one-time world champion took part in PS4 without the aid of the extra power guaranteed by the electric motor and this weighed on his performance.
Third place was also better defined thanks to a good comeback from Thierry Neuville. The Belgian of Hyundai Motorsport, after being slowed down in SS3 due to a puncture to the front right tyre, took second place and returned to 1″7 from the podium area.
Elfyn Evans grit his teeth and managed to stay in third position, but now has the first Hyundai i20 N Rally1 behind him. Thanks to this time trial, Neuville has recovered 2 positions and seems to have the pace to challenge Evans in the afternoon practice, even if the weather will play a decisive role because it seems that rain is expected in a few hours.
Takamoto Katsuta had to make a decisive intervention to fix the steering arm of his GR Yaris Rally1 before SS4. The maneuver was successful, but this still forced him to slip to fifth position in the general classification.
Things certainly went worse for Esapekka Lappi, who had to slow down from the 13th kilometer of the stage due to a puncture in his right rear tyre. The Hyundai Finn preferred not to stop, taking the risk of finishing the test on 3 wheels, but this paid off.
Ott Tanak instead chose to stop to replace a tire that had come off the rim (the latter was damaged and was the cause of the puncture) but lost over 2 minutes from the best. The M-Sport driver slipped to ninth position, even behind his teammate Pierre-Louis Loubet. Thanks to this inconvenience, Loubet and Dani Sordo have gained a position in the general classification.
Oliver Solberg continues his march, firmly holding the lead in WRC2. The Norwegian, at the wheel of a Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo, now has an advantage of almost 2 minutes over the first of his pursuers, Gregoire Munster with a Ford Fiesta Rally2. Kajetan Kajetanowicz instead slipped to third position in his category due to a puncture.
The morning lap of the first leg of the Safari Rally ends here. The African event will resume with SS5, the 19.17 kilometer Loldia 2 this afternoon. The first car, the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 number 69 driven by Kalle Rovanpera and Jonne Halttunen, will enter testing at 12:09 Italian time.
Safari Rally – WRC 2023 – Leaderboard after PS4
pos. | Pilot/navigator | Car | Time/detachment | Penalty |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ogier/Landais | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 | 38’57”4 | |
2 | Rovanpera/Halttunen | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 | +2″5 | |
3 | Evans/Martin | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 | +19″5 | |
4 | Neuville/Wydaeghe | Hyundai i20N Rally1 | +21″2 | |
5 | Katsuta/Johnston | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 | +29″1 | |
6 | Lappi/Ferm | Hyundai i20N Rally1 | +41″1 | |
7 | Deaf/Carrera | Hyundai i20N Rally1 | +45″9 | +0’10” |
8 | Loubet/Gilsoul | Ford Puma Rally1 | +1’17″3 | |
9 | Tanak/Jarveoja | Ford Puma Rally1 | +2’26″4 | |
10 | Solberg/Edmondson | Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo | +2’49″6 |
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