Rally | Kalle Rovanperä was surprised by Sébastien Ogier’s decision

Naivasha

Kalle Rovanperän difference to the one leading the Safari rally to Sébastien Ogier is 22.8 seconds after Friday. The third Toyota driver Elfyn Evans is correspondingly 20.7 seconds behind Rovanperä.

Ogier ran away, but the reason became clear later. The Frenchman kept only one spare tire on his car, which meant a 20 kg advantage, but was a significantly riskier choice.

“I couldn’t do much more today. I didn’t know about Sebi’s tire strategy. The way was cleared for him because he came so much further back. There was really nothing else to do. A perfect day”, Rovanperä joked in the interview.

If the first actual race day was tough for the cars, it will also be the race on Saturday. Patience is still the best recipe for success.

“It will be quite challenging tomorrow. Today’s run is really hard on the car and the tires. Two long segments, so anything can still happen.”

To my own Rovanperä was quite satisfied with his performance.

“There was a bit more loss than I expected, but I still drove well. If it feels good tomorrow, we can start to fight back a bit.”

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“Seb has been driving with one spare wheel and a terrible ‘crack’, so what’s up.”

Ogier and Rovanperä have each won once in Kenya, so it will be a battle of the titans until the end.

On Saturday Rovanperä no longer has to plow the road clean, so the punts with Ogier are equal.

“Seb has been driving with one spare wheel and a terrible ‘crack’, so what’s the matter. Let’s see how much he wants to take risks tomorrow and try to get through without problems,” Rovanperä planned.

Saturday is the longest day of the rally: six special stages and 150 ek kilometers.