Oliver Solberg grabbed a significant early Safari Rally Kenya lead over Toyota World Rally Championship team-mate Elfyn Evans after wild weather wreaked havoc.
Monte Carlo winner Solberg headed to the first service with a 33.3s lead over Evans, while reigning world champion and two-time Safari winner Sebastien Ogier was 1m05.1s adrift after only two stages.
The majority of Solberg’s advantage was built in the opening stage Camp Moran (24.35km) which had been expected to offer up drama. A heavy rain shower made conditions, that were already muddy, much worse ensuring the test was one where survival was paramount.
Those at the top of the road order faced the best of the conditions, with Solberg, second on the road leading the charge. The Swede set a blistering time, 30s faster than road-opener Evans, whose visibility was severely hampered by a misted windscreen.
“I can’t believe we’re in this position again, I can’t see anything, we were saved a bit by the rain in the end, but can’t see anything,” said Evans.
Solberg revealed that he was also struggling for visibility. “Thirty seconds on Elfyn and a minute on Seb was a bit of a surprise,” he added. “It was so difficult it was much more about reading the road than listening to the pacenotes. I tried to use the water splashes as windscreen washer fluid.”
The pair were in a league of their own as the conditions deteriorated for the remaining crews, as almost four minutes separated the Rally1 crews with Ogier the best of the rest, albeit 1m09.3 slower than Solberg’s benchmark.
Elfyn Evans, Scott Martin, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
Photo by: Toyota Racing
Toyota locked out the top five positions with Takamoto Katsuta in fourth despite being frustrated by the loss of his intercom, which effectively meant he drove the stage blind without pacenotes. Sami Pajari was fifth fastest ahead of Thierry Neuville, who was the top Hyundai, 3.1s slower than the Finn.
“We needed a boat in there, or a tank, or something else, but not a rally car,” said Neuville. “I took it carefully, you don’t know what’s behind the corner or in the braking. The rally is long, there is a lot that can happen. We need to manage.”
Jon Armstrong was the top M-Sport-Ford runner after team-mate Josh McErlean lost 3m57.1s due to a misted windscreen that required the use of a stick with a cloth on the end to be used to help clear the fog.
Conditions were the total opposite in stage two as blue skies and a much drier road greeted the crews for the 8.86km blast through Mzabibu.
Ogier took the stage win by 0.4s from Pajari with Katsuta third after the latter managed to replace a faulty intercom in the intervening road section. Solberg was fourth fastest and managed to extend his rally lead after pipping Evans by 3.3s in the test.
While the stage was dry, it once again highlighted how tough Kenya’s roads can be as four Rally1 crews, including all three Hyundai cars, triggered high temperature alerts.
Steam could be seen coming from the front on Neuville’s i20 N at the end of the stage, while team-mates Adrien Fourmaux and Esapekka Lappi were forced to slow down. M-Sport’s McErlean also faced an overheating problem with his Ford Puma, and had to back off midway through the test.
Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1
Photo by: Hyundai
“In the last one we overheated and the radiator was full of mud. We tried to clean it before the stage, brushing it and blowing it, but obviously there was still too much dirt,” said Neuville.
Fourmaux added: “We had an issue on stage two that was caused by stage one and we will fix it. It seems the mud blocked [the radiator] and I know Thierry tried to clean it and it didn’t really work for him. We need to understand and make sure it doesn’t happen for the rest of the weekend.”
Neuville managed to hold onto sixth, 2m21.9s adrift of the lead but team-mate Fourmaux dropped to eighth [+2m38.1s] overall behind Armstrong. Lappi and WRC2 runner Gus Greensmith rounded out the top 10.
Crews will tackle eight stages on Friday comprising of 125 kilometres.
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– The Autosport.com Team
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