Tag: Safari Rally

Kalle Rovanpera took a significant step toward clinching his second Safari Rally Kenya victory, the Toyota Gazoo Racing ace steering clear of trouble while his WRC rivals hit difficulties on Saturday’s second leg.

In one of the most eventful days of the 2024 FIA World Rally Championship season so far — one which was marked by fluctuating conditions ranging from dry and dusty to wet and muddy — Rovanpera (above) was one of few contenders to enjoy a clean run. The two-time and reigning WRC champ, who’s chosen to run only a limited program this season, stretched his lead to an impressive 2m8.9s as rivals including Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville, and his Toyota teammates Elfyn Evans and Takamoto Katsuta encountered significant setbacks.

Despite dominating every stage the previous day, Rovanpera adopted a more conservative approach on Saturday’s stages near Lake Elmenteita, located south of the rally’s Naivasha base. The GR Yaris Rally1 driver initially headed teammates Evans and Katsuta until the pair fell behind after both sustaining punctures in the morning loop.

Neuville emerged as Rovanpera’s closest threat, but his challenge was short-lived after his Hyundai i20 N Rally1 encountered a fuel system issue during the afternoon’s first stage at Soysambu. Neuville dropped significant time as he nursed the problem through the remaining two stages, which opened the door for Katsuta to reclaim the runner-up spot, ahead of M-Sport Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux.

Under the WRC’s new-for-2024 points system, Rovanpera’s Saturday standing will earn him 18 points provided he completes Sunday’s six remaining stages. Katsuta will receive 15, while Fourmaux, who ended the leg 3m13.3s off the lead, will get 13.

“The lead is now quite good,” said Rovanpera, “so of course we took it carefully. It’s not so enjoyable when you have a big lead and in a stage like [Sleeping Warrior] you just go around every rock — it’s scary. Tomorrow is still a tough day and we will try to finish the job.”

Fourmaux survived a front-left tire delamination in the final stage in his Puma Rally1 and is now on track to secure his second top-three finish in consecutive rallies, following his maiden podium in Sweden in February. The Frenchman led fourth-placed Evans, who suffered a total of four punctures during Saturday’s six stages, by over two minutes.

A visibly upset Neuville completed the overall top five more than 11 minutes adrift of the leading pace, with his restarting Hyundai teammate, Ott Tanak, clawing his way back to 10^th overall, albeit more than 20 minutes off the lead, after a steering issue had ended his Friday early. One place ahead of the Estonian, Jordan Serderidis is enjoying a one-off WRC outing, but makes it two M-Sport Pumas in the top 10.

In WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, Gus Greensmith edged closer to the class victory after ending Saturday with a commanding buffer still intact.

Providing he can steer clear of any major dramas in Sunday’s upcoming final leg, the Skoda Fabia RS driver is poised to gain maximum points from his first scoring event of the season (WRC2 contenders are allowed to nominate only seven events for championship points). With his flu-like symptoms gradually improving, Saturday was a much more enjoyable day for the Brit.

Greensmith took full advantage of the sizeable lead he’d built over the previous day, taking minimal risks to avoid damaging his tires on Kenya’s rock-strewn roads. He dropped time to his Toksport Skoda teammate Oliver Solberg, who’d been hampered by tire troubles on Friday, across all but one of Saturday’s stages, but still reached the overnight halt 1m55.0s clear of the Swede.

“It’s been fine today, and I am feeling better now,” Greensmith said. “We took the last stage nice and easy because we knew it was going to be rough, and it made no sense to lose time changing a tire. Nothing was more physically demanding than yesterday — today, in comparison, was a walk in the park…”

Sunday’s finale features two loops of three stages covering both sides of Lake Naivasha. Malewa, Oserengoni and Hell’s Gate are all run twice, making for a 46.22-mile closing leg. The second run through the 6.54-mile Hell’s Gate will be the bonus points-paying, rally-closing Wolf Power Stage.    

WRC Safari Rally Kenya, positions after Leg Two, SS13
1 Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 2h48m50.2s
2 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +2m08.9s
3 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Ford Puma Rally1) +3m13.3s
4 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +5m35.6s
5 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +11m48.6s
6 Gus Greensmith/Jonas Anedrsson (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2 leader) +15m02.0s
7 Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +16m57.0s 
8 Kajetan Kajetanowicz/Maciej Szczepaniak (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +21m15.7s
9 Jordan Serderidis/Frederic Miclotte (Ford Puma Rally1) +21m56.4s
10 Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +21m58.1s

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Sebastien Ogier defied teammate Kalle Rovanpera’s charge to head home a dream 1-2-3-4 finish for Toyota Gazoo Racing on a dramatic final day at WRC Safari Rally Kenya.

Ogier (above), who’s chosen to run only a limited FIA World Rally Championship program, recorded his third victory from just five starts so far this season. But his rally very nearly unraveled in Sunday’s second special stage, Oserian 1, when a patch of Kenya’s infamous, soft and deep fesh-fesh sand sent his GR Yaris Rally1 wide on a right-hand turn.

The Frenchman, fighting hard to recover time lost to Rovanpera in the day’s rocky opener, Malewa 1, clipped a tree and ripped off his car’s entire rear tailgate. Amazingly, he still won the stage and made all the time back, then patched the gap using a trash-can liner to keep dust at bay in the following Hell’s Gate 1.

More permanent repairs in service did not conclude the drama, however, as all four Yaris crews completed the penultimate stage with dust-induced overheating engines. Ogier, one of the hardest hit, saw his lead reduced to just 9.2s before the rally-closing, bonus points-paying Wolf Power Stage finale. There, where the eight-time WRC champ’s run was again not without incident, arriving at the flying finish with a cracked windshield from a flicked-up rock.

Despite the late incident, he was able to secure the win by 6.7s and spearhead Toyota’s second clean sweep in as many Safari Rallies.

Kenya’s President, William Ruto, presented Ogier and co-driver Vincent Landais with their trophies, commemorating Ogier’s second win at the event, amid stunning scenery at Hell’s Gate.

“Unbelievable! Look at that, even on the Power Stage I got a stone on the windscreen,” said Ogier. “We had a lot of issues to face, but it couldn’t have been a more comfortable rally for us in terms of pace. A lot of misfortune but we brought it home.” 

Finishing in second place felt like a personal victory for defending WRC champ Rovanpera, who extended his 2023 drivers’ championship lead to 37 points after round seven of 13.

“You always want to fight for the win, but we did our best starting first car on the road, so regarding that I think it’s not fully bad,” noted the 22-year-old Finn. “Good points for the season anyway.”

Takamoto Katsuta’s hopes of surpassing Toyota teammate Elfyn Evans and achieving a third Safari Rally podium vanished when his Yaris’s hybrid unit stopped working, sapping vital performance. The Japanese driver settled for fourth overall, 25.3s back from Evans, with Ogier and Rovanpera almost three minutes up the road from the third-placed Welshman.

Dani Sordo overcame power steering failure in his Hyundai i20 N Rally1 during Sunday’s third stage to finish an isolated fifth at the end of a testing weekend for Hyundai Motorsport, which now trails Toyota by 42 points in the WRC manufacturers’ title race.

Of the other Hyundais, early podium challenger Esapekka Lappi was way down the order after being plagued by transmission issues in his i20 N, while Thierry Neuville, recovering from suspension failure on Friday, could only roll home eighth, almost 25 minutes off the lead. The Belgian did take the five bonus points for winning the Power Stage and maintains second in the WRC standings, but closing down a 37-point deficit to Rovanpera will be a tough ask.  

Tire troubles earlier in the rally prevented M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 drivers Ott Tanak and Pierre-Louis Loubet from mounting any form of attack. They finished sixth and seventh respectively, with Tanak taking the slim consolation of second-fastest time through the Power Stage. 

In WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, Kajetan Kajetanowicz secured his second Safari Rally class win in as many years with a masterful drive in the typically challenging conditions.

The Pole cruised to Sunday afternoon’s finish in his Skoda Fabia Evo more than 11 minutes in front of nearest-placed challenger Martin Prokop, moving from ninth to fourth in the WRC2 standings as a result. 

Kajetanowicz had battled with M-Sport Ford youngster Gregoire Munster through Friday and Saturday, but found himself comfortably clear at the top when the Fiesta Mk II driver pulled over with a mechanical issue. A measured run through Sunday’s closing six special stages was all that was needed to bring home the victory and finish ninth overall.

“We did it again! It’s an amazing feeling. It seemed to be easy, but it wasn’t. Thank you to my team and Maciej — I think we did quite a good job,” said Kajetanowicz, referencing his co-driver Maciej Szczepaniak.

Completing the overall top 10, Oliver Solberg’s Skoda finished just 30.6s behind Kajetanowicz’s similar car, but with only seven rounds counting toward the WRC2 championship, the 21-year-old Swede had elected not to register for class points in Kenya. 

The FIA World Rally Championship returns to Europe next month when the super-fast gravel roads of Rally Estonia host round eight, July 20-23.

WRC Safari Rally Kenya, final positions after Day Three, SS19
1 Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 3h30m42.5s
2 Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +6.7s
3 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +2m58.5s
4 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +3m23.8s
5 Dani Sordo/Candido Carrera (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +5m05.4s
6 Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja (M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1) +9m14.4s
7 Pierre-Louis Loubet/Nicolas Gilsoul (M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1) +16m15.7s
8 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +24m47.0s
9 Kajetan Kajetanowicz/Maciej Szczepaniak (Skoda Fabia Evo – WRC2 winner) +26m33.4s
10 Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson (Skoda Fabia Evo – RC2/non-points) +27m04.0s

WRC Drivers’ Championship after 7 rounds
1 Rovanpera 139 points
2 Neuville 102
3 Evans 98
4 Ogier 97
5 Tanak 97

WRC Manufacturers’ Championship after 7 rounds
1 Toyota Gazoo Racing 283 points
2 Hyundai Motorsport 241
3 M-Sport Ford 174   

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Teammates Sebastien Ogier and Kalle Rovanpera will go head to head for WRC Safari Rally Kenya victory after Saturday’s final stage blew the lead battle wide open.

On a day when Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 cars topped the timesheets in every one of the six stages run and hold 1-2-3-4 on the overall leaderboard, Ogier (above) looked set to end the penultimate leg comfortably in front of his teammate and reigning FIA World Rally champion Rovanpera. 

Frenchman Ogier, an eight-time WRC champ who’s chosen to run only a part-time program in 2023, was happy to measure his pace and keep a watchful eye on those behind after overcoming tire damage on the day’s opening stage. But a sudden downpour in the leg-closing, 19.29-mile Sleeping Warrior 2 test caused chaos. The dry and dusty roads quickly turned to mud and offered minimal grip in conditions more like a snow and ice rally than Africa.

Ogier, the last of the of the overall victory-chasing hybrid Rally1 cars into the stage, was perhaps hit harder by the conditions than any of his rivals, his Yaris limping to the finish line with two slow punctures. It meant his advantage was sliced in half after conceding more than 15s to Rovanpera, and he’ll start Sunday’s six-stage finale just 16.7sec clear at the top.

“Even on the straights, second gear was quite high-speed,” smiled Rovanpera at the finish. “But we are here in one piece and that was the only goal for today.”

A repeat of last year’s 1-2-3-4 Safari sweep looks all but guaranteed for Toyota, but which driver will be heading it come Sunday afternoon is anybody’s guess.

There was drama in the battle for the final podium spot, too, after Esapekka Lappi, who held the place until Saturday’s penultimate stage, retired his Hyundai i20 N Rally1 with suspected propshaft failure.

Toyota’s Elfyn Evans inherited the position before being passed by teammate Takamoto Katsuta, although the Welshman fared better in the wet weather conditions and moved back in front again. They were separated by 16.7s at the end of the leg, but with Rovanpera more than two minutes further ahead, their Sunday priority is likely to be just maintaining the Toyota 1-2-3-4.

Lappi’s exit, coupled with Thierry Neuville’s Friday retirement, means that Hyundai’s hopes for clinging on to a decent finish now rest on Dani Sordo’s shoulders. The Spaniard trailed Evans by 1m12.3s to hold fifth overnight, with M-Sport Ford’s Ott Tanak almost five minutes behind him in a lonely sixth.

After Friday’s time-consuming wheel change, Tanak’s Safari frustrations continued when he and co-driver Martin Jarveoja stopped their Puma Rally1 in Soysambu 2 to carry out their second change of the weekend. M-Sport teammate Pierre-Louis Loubet held seventh, despite a run-in with a bush in the morning’s final stage, but is 5m17.7s behind Tanak.

Of the other Rally1 entries, Neuville restarted Saturday’s second leg and, despite carrying a time penalty for his Friday DNF, holds ninth overall, albeit more than 24 minutes off the lead. 

The Belgian’s Hyundai is headed by WRC2 leader Kajetan Kajetanowicz. The Polish ace looks set to repeat his 2022 Safari class win after regaining the lead in international rallying’s second tier on Saturday. 

The Skoda Fabia Evo driver, fighting back from a Friday morning tire delamination, was fastest WRC2 car on all three of the morning’s rugged stages to leapfrog overnight leader Gregoire Munster before service.

Munster responded early in the afternoon by reclaiming the top spot with fastest time through Soysambu 2, but heartbreak was to come for the M-Sport Ford Fiesta Mk II driver as he retired after the stage with mechanical failure.

His exit not only elevated Kajetanowicz to first, but also gave him significant room to breathe. He starts Sunday’s final leg more than 10 minutes clear of second-placed Martin Prokop’s Fiesta.

Sunday’s six-stage final leg on the southern side of Lake Naivasha consists of three special stages each run twice. The rally-ending, 6.54-mile Hell’s Gate 2 will be the bonus points-paying Wolf Power Stage, and could be crucial in the battle for the overall victory between Ogier and Rovanpera.

WRC Safari Rally Kenya, leading positions after Day Two, SS13
1 Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 2h43m49.2s
2 Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +16.7s
3 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +2m23.3s
4 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +2m40.0s
5 Dani Sordo/Candido Carrera (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +3m52.3s
6 Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja (M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1) +8m38.9s
7 Pierre-Louis Loubet/Nicolas Gilsoul (M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1) +13m56.6s
8 Kajetan Kajetanowicz/Maciej Szczepaniak (Skoda Fabia Evo – WRC2 leader) +19m53.1s
9 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +24m06.2s
10 Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson (Skoda Fabia Evo – RC2/non-points) +24m06.6s

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Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier shrugged off a minor morning setback to build a commanding overnight lead on WRC Safari Rally Kenya after Friday’s opening leg.

The Frenchman (above) showed his rivals a clean pair of heels on the first full day of action and quickly established a double-digit lead just three special stages into the seventh round of the 2023 FIA World Rally Championship. But a hybrid unit fault on his GR Yaris Rally1 hindered the eight-time WRC champ late in the morning, slashing his buffer over Toyota Gazoo racing teammate Kalle Rovanpera to just 2.5s before the midday service in Naivasha.

That failed to deter Ogier, who rolled the dice by carrying only one spare wheel aboard his Yaris for the repeated afternoon loop of stages. Those weight-saving tactics clearly worked wonders as he charged to three-straight fastest times, ending the day 22.8s clear of Rovanpera at the head of a Toyota 1-2-3

“It’s been a good day,” said Ogier, who’s elected to run only a limited WRC schedule in 2023, but has won two of the four events he’s started so far. “Except for the hybrid issue this morning we had a perfect day, so we can be happy.”

Reigning WRC champ Rovanpera, whose points lead going into Kenya meant he was running Friday’s leg as first car on the road, found understeer an issue, particularly during the second half of the day when he was forced to carve a new line in the already rutted sandy tracks. His teammate, Elfyn Evans, completed Toyota’s early podium lock-out, but 43.5s off the lead on a day which the Welshman admitted he approached too cautiously.

Thierry Neuville had been Hyundai’s leading light for much of Friday, but the Belgian retired in the penultimate stage when a heavy compression destroyed the front-left suspension on his i20 N Rally1. Safari Rally debutant Esapekka Lappi, driving a similar car, inherited the position and trailed Evans by 10.5s at close of day, moving ahead of Takamoto Katsuta’s Toyota in the process.

Katsuta donned his mechanics gloves after the morning’s second stage to replace a damaged steering arm on his Yaris. He heads sixth-placed Hyundai driver Dani Sordo by just 9.0s heading into Saturday after a dramatic final stage saw him clip a tree branch and also sustain tire damage.

M-Sport Ford drivers Ott Tanak and Pierre-Louis Loubet had a day to forget. Both Puma Rally1 drivers sat several minutes back from the lead in seventh and eighth overall after carrying out mid-stage wheel changes.

But it was better news for M-Sport Ford in WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, where Gregoire Munster’s tactical approach in his Fiesta Mk II gave him the class lead at the end of the leg.

Munster is starting his first-ever Safari, but ended the opening leg 26.4s clear of Kajetan Kajetanowicz, the winner here in 2022. 

The 24-year-old Luxembourger took his time to get dialed into the unique African terrain, but when Kajetanowicz suffered a tire delamination and dropped almost 40s in the Kedong 1 test, he was elevated to first.

He held his own against the Pole’s Fabia Rally2 Evo across the repeated afternoon loop and reached the overnight halt in Naivasha feeling satisfied with his approach.

“This one was really tricky, so sandy and so deep,” Munster said at the finish of Kedong 2, the day’s final stage. “The car was crashing through quite a lot, but I think we managed exactly as we needed to in this kind of stage. It’s rough; I’m glad this first day is over.”

Roads further north around Lake Elmenteita host Saturday’s second leg. A three-stage loop, including the 19.29-mile Sleeping Warrior test, is repeated twice for a total of 93.75 competitive miles in the longest day of the event.

WRC Safari Rally Kenya, leading positions after Day One, SS7
1 Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 1h14m38.7s
2 Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +22.8s
3 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +43.5s
4 Esapekka Lappi/Janne Ferm (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +54.0s
5 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +1m19.4s
6 Dani Sordo/Candido Carrera (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +1m28.4s
7 Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja (M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1) +3m03.3s
8 Pierre-Louis Loubet/Nicolas Gilsoul (M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1) +7m04.9s
9 Gregoire Munster/Louis Louka (Ford Fiesta MkII – WRC2 leader) +8m50.7s
10 Kajetan Kajetanowicz/Maciej Szczepaniak (Skoda Fabia Evo – WRC2) +9m17.1s

Check out WRC.com, the official home of the FIA World Rally Championship. And for the ultimate WRC experience, sign up for a WRC+ All Live subscription to watch all stages of every rally live and on demand, whenever and wherever.