Sébastien Ogier unites the umpteenth legendary performance of his career by winning the Special Stage 13, the Sleeping Warrior 2 of 31.04 kilometers in an excellent way, giving a driving lesson to all the others in mud, water, aquaplaning and very little grip.
Ogier won the race ahead of the three team mates, with Kalle Rovanpera second at 3 “4, Takamoto Katsuta third at 10” 6 and Elfyn Evans at 16 “6.
This result helped Rovanpera to further increase his margin on Elfyn Evans, first and only rival for the final victory of this sixth event of the 2022 World Rally. Between the two there are now 40 “4 when there are 6 other special stages missing.
The fight for third place changes again and is probably over. After the problems encountered during the transfer between PS12 and PS13, Thierry Neuville had to stop for the first time in practice due to the engine shutdown of his Hyundai i20 N Rally1.
The Belgian, stopped on the trajectory, was unable to restart the engine of the Korean car for several minutes. Once the car started again, however, it ended up against a tree due to poor visibility (probably due to a wave of mud on the windscreen that arrived after entering a hole in the trajectory). At that point he could not help but withdraw.
Although Neuville finished his day prematurely, with the office penalty of 10 minutes inflicted on him he is still in fifth position, 10’59 “4 behind Kalle Rovanpera. A little consolation, because with this retirement Neuville has probably lost the last chance to keep the Drivers’ World Championship open.
The Belgian’s retirement also created the conditions for a Toyota poker that would also give a blow to the Constructors’ Championship. In addition to the podium, Ogier’s fourth place would further sanction the dominance of the Japanese manufacturer which, in fact, this year had no rivals both for its own merits and for the demerits of others.
All other positions in the overall standings are consolidated, with Oliver Solberg sixth ahead of the first of the Ford Pumas, that of Craig Breen and Paul Nagle. The gentleman driver Jourdan Serderidis is eighth overall ahead of Sébastien Loeb.
Noteworthy is Kajetan Kajetanowicz’s ninth place in the overall standings and first in WRC2. The Polish driver, at the wheel of a Skoda Fabia Rally2, is the real ruler of the series, especially after the retirement of Sean Johnston, the only one of his rivals, who arrived just before the last special stage.
The third day of racing at the Safari Rally 2022 ends here. The 17.52 kilometer Oserian 1 will resume tomorrow morning with Special Stage 14, with the first car entering the test at 06:05 Italian time.
Safari Rally 2022 – Ranking after PS13
Pos | Pilot / navigator | Car | Time / posting | Penalty |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Rovanpera / Halttunen | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 | 2h52’39 “7 | |
2 | Evans / Martin | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 | +40 “3 | |
3 | Katsuta / Johnston | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 | + 1’15 “6 | |
4 | Ogier / Vaillas | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 | + 2’38 “3 | |
5 | Neuville / Wydaeghe | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 | + 10’59 “3 | |
6 | Solberg / Edmondson | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 | + 12’19 “1 | + 1’40 “ |
7 | Breen / Nagle | Ford Puma Rally1 | + 18’56 “1 | |
8 | Kajetanowicz / Szczepaniak | Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo | + 25’45 “6 | |
9 | Serderidis / Miclotte | Ford Puma Rally1 | + 27’34 “7 | |
10 | Loeb / Galmiche | Ford Puma Rally1 | + 33’01 “1 |
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