Sébastien Ogier lost three places and two minutes with a puncture on Saturday’s opening stage of Safari Rally Kenya.
The nine-time and reigning world champion had started SS11 of the event just one second behind Toyota team-mate Oliver Solberg overall, but ended it 2m08s adrift after stopping to change a rear-left tire on the test.
Ogier explained: “[There were] rocks in the line on the fast section, I couldn’t avoid it. Instant puncture.”
Ogier fell to fifth as a result, 5.7s behind Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux who climbed two positions after also comfortably overhauling his team-mate Thierry Neuville.
Out front, Solberg extended his lead to 23.6s over Elfyn Evans courtesy of a 3.1s stage win on Soysambu over the championship leader – despite a high-speed spin in top gear.
Solberg was surprised to have gained such little time: “With that attack!?” he said. “My God…”
Sami Pajari is up to third following Ogier’s problem.
