Thierry Neuville pipped his Hyundai team-mate Ott Tänak to fastest time on Safari Rally Kenya’s opening superspecial, though had to wait a little longer than expected after a rollover for local competitor Aakif Virani delayed the stage.
Despite the positive start for Hyundai, its lead drivers were wary of the more punishing test they’ll face in the coming days – especially given Hyundai’s repeated issues with reliability on this rally since the debut of its i20 N Rally1.
After his winning run, Neuville said: “My fingers are crossed that we get through this time without any technical issues, problems or mistakes. I feel good in the car, so it’s always good to start the rally like this.”
Tänak, meanwhile, had one eye on the sky, suggesting if the heavy rains that have been forecasted for the days ahead materialize, then it could become something of a lottery.
“The first thing on my mind is to get through without too much trouble,” said Tänak. “For sure there will be some stress at times; with the weather we need luck on our side and we also need to make ourselves and the car reliable.”
There were no dramas for the Toyota factory trio but they were simply outgunned on the short superspecial.
Reigning world champion Kalle Rovanperä was the first of the factory Rally1 drivers into the stage, paired up with Grégoire Munster in his superspecial duel. That meant a road order disadvantage, a consequence of running a part-time season – but he was still the fastest GR Yaris Rally1 anyway, 0.8s off Neuville’s pace.
A further 0.1s back was Takamoto Katsuta in fourth, while Evans dropped 1.7s and ended sixth, behind Esapekka Lappi in the third Hyundai.
M-Sport brought up the rear in Rally1; Fourmaux was 2.2s off the pace in seventh but Munster was far slower, 8.6s off the pace and down in ninth. Jourdan Serderidis, who changed his mind about retiring from Rally1 competition by entering Safari in a third Ford Puma Rally1, is outside the top 10.
Oliver Solberg's rally hasn't gotten off to an ideal start
Oliver Solberg expressed dismay at being made to run before the Rally1 cars while non-Kenyan rivals in the WRC2 category ran much later on in the superspecial, thus creating a road order disadvantage for the second-tier championship leader.
That had a pronounced effect by the time Gus Greensmith, making his first WRC appearance of the year in Kenya, came through: the former M-Sport factory driver went fastest by 2.8s.
Solberg’s early effort was still enough to hold second in WRC2, with Kajetan Kajetanowicz –who’s won the last two editions of the Safari in the second tier – 0.3s further behind him in third place.
The stage was delayed early doors for approximately 20 minutes after a chaotic duel between Kenyan locals Virani and Sid Vohra ended with Virani’s Škoda Fabia R5 rolling over.
https://twitter.com/OfficialWRC/status/1773323238610808840
Virani spun only a few corners into the first lap of the superspeical, as he was sent around by cutting too deeply into a puddle on the inside of a corner. Vohra then did the exact same thing on his pass through the corner.
But the last mistake made by the duo was the most consequential; Virani took himself out of contention by running wide into a bank and sending his Fabia onto its roof.
