Solberg Clings to 1-Second Lead as Safari Rally Kenya Enters Day3
By Mwambazi Lawrence
NAIVASHA – If there is one rally in the world that refuses to behave politely, it is the Safari Rally Kenya, and Friday once again proved why drivers say this event has a personality of its own. After a day filled with mud, ruts, punctures, mechanical dramas and even a giraffe crossing the road like it owned the place, Oliver Solberg will head into the weekend with the tiniest of advantages just one second over rally legend Sébastien Ogier.
Solberg started the day looking comfortable in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1, but Safari had other plans. The rally woke up angry on Friday morning, throwing deep ruts and slippery mud at the crews. In fact, things got so rough that the Camp Moran stage had to be cancelled because the ruts were so deep that even medical and technical vehicles looked at the road and said, “No thanks, not today.” Crews instead kicked off their morning on the Loldia stage.
Even Solberg himself had a small reminder that Safari Rally doesn’t hand out free gifts. On the opening stage he overshot a right-hand corner and briefly went sightseeing in the Kenyan bushes, losing around 10 seconds. Luckily for him, the bushes were kind and politely returned him back to the road without charging a tourist fee. As the rally moved into the afternoon, the conditions changed yet again. The mud began to dry, revealing the real Safari traps sharp rocks, deep ruts and surfaces that look smooth until they suddenly try to destroy your suspension. That’s when Ogier began quietly sharpening his knives.
The nine-time world champion showed why experience matters on Safari. Ogier steadily chipped away at Solberg’s lead, setting the fastest times on two stages and applying the kind of pressure that makes rally drivers start talking to their cars. Solberg’s lead took a major hit on SS8 when he suffered a rear-right puncture and had to nurse the car through the stage like someone pushing a shopping trolley with one broken wheel. By the final Mzabibu stage of the day, what had once been a comfortable lead had shrunk to just one second basically the time it takes a Safari mechanic to shout “puncture!” from the service park.
“I tried my best. It was really slippery again,” Solberg said. “We are back to zero now with Seb, so we will see what he does. I have had a fight with him before this year and I’m leading 1-0… we will go again tomorrow.”
Behind the leading pair, Toyota Gazoo Racing continued to treat the leaderboard like their private parking lot. Championship leader Elfyn Evans completed a Toyota 1-2-3 in third place, though he spent most of the day trying to convince his GR Yaris to behave properly.
Young Finn Sami Pajari delivered one of the most entertaining drives of the day. After nearly rolling the car in the morning on Loldia which briefly gave his co-driver a free view of the Kenyan sky Pajari bounced back to win two stages and even grabbed another fastest time later in the day. That’s the Safari Rally way: one minute you’re almost upside down, the next minute you’re the fastest man in the stage.
Toyota looked set to lock out the top five places until Safari remembered it hadn’t caused enough chaos yet. Takamoto Katsuta picked up a double-front puncture, which forced him to crawl through the stages without a spare tyre basically driving like a man trying to get home on the last drop of fuel.
Hyundai drivers Thierry Neuville and Adrien Fourmaux inherited positions ahead of Katsuta. Neuville’s day included stalling under braking and repairing a damaged radiator, proving once again that Safari Rally likes to keep drivers busy with extra mechanical homework.
Then came one of the most “Safari” moments of the entire rally. Esapekka Lappi slowed to first gear on SS9 after encountering a family of giraffes calmly crossing the road. For nearly 300 metres he followed them at walking pace probably the slowest stage time in WRC history caused by wildlife politely using the road. Moments later, Lappi slid into a tree near the finish, which may have been his car protesting about the giraffe traffic jam.
The punishing Kenyan terrain also hit M-Sport Ford World Rally Team hard. Josh McErlean retired after hitting something nasty in a braking zone that burst a tyre and damaged the car enough to send him packing for the day. Team-mate Jon Armstrong also had a rough ride when a rear suspension arm broke on SS9. The Irish crew performed a roadside repair before limping the Puma Rally1 to the finish proof that rally drivers are part racers and part emergency mechanics.
In WRC2, Robert Virves moved into the class lead after Gus Greensmith backed off with a gearbox issue. Virves now carries a 14.5-second advantage into Saturday.
For Uganda’s representatives, the day felt a bit like a bad Safari weather forecast. Yasin Nasser and co-driver Ali Katumba were forced to retire on the Loldia stage when their Ford Fiesta overheated. The good news is the car has been repaired and the pair will restart on Saturday under Super Rally rules and Nemo will be looking for Dory once again.
Meanwhile Oscar Ntambi and co-driver Asuman Mohammed are currently the best-placed Ugandans in 27th position overall. Despite a collision with a trailer that damaged the door and fender, the crew managed to patch up the car proving that rally drivers can fix almost anything except Safari Rally itself. Fellow Ugandan Duncan Mubiru has also had his share of drama. Too much dust entering the car and a broken shock absorber in the Kedong stage slowed him down, but he has survived the day and sits in 30th position overall which, in Safari terms, already deserves a medal.
Saturday promises even more adventure as crews tackle six brutal stages including Soysambu, Elementaita and the famous Sleeping Warrior test. With those stages run twice, drivers will once again face nearly 120 kilometres of unpredictable Kenyan terrain. And if Safari Rally has taught us anything over the years, it’s this: the rally is not finished until the final stage
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