On Saturday, Kalle Rovanpera pushed his lead at the top of the World Rally Championship (WRC) Safari Rally standings to 40.3 seconds over Toyota teammates Elfyn Evans and Takamoto Katsuta.
Toyota finished the day with a clean sweep of the top four positions, with WRC Safari Rally defending champion Sebastian Ogier finishing fourth.
Rovanpera was under a lot of pressure in the morning loop, but he kept his cool and posted good times without having to push too hard.
He also explained how he got through the muddy stages of Elementaita 2 and Sleeping Warrior 2 that killed senior drivers like Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville.
Rovanpera now has a healthy 40-second lead over teammate Elfyn Evans heading into tomorrow’s finale. Evans kept up his pace, winning two stages – Soysambu 1 and 2.
Takamoto Katsuta, another Toyota, is third, 1.25.6 seconds behind the leader, and defending champion Sebastian Ogier is fourth.
Gus Greensmith of the M-Sport world rally team rolled his M-Sport Ford Puma car at Stage 8 and later retired for the day due to cooling issues.
Gus complained that safety Marshalls did not help him get back on his feet after rolling, and that he was trapped for more than three minutes.
Adrien Fourmaux, the other M-Sport driver, retired due to mechanical issues with his Puma car.
The WRC Safari Rally concludes today with drivers tackling Oserian, Narasha, and Hell’s Gate twice.
Toyota Team Principal Jari Matti Latvala has hinted that the team will be hoping that all drivers complete the rally safely in order to win their second consecutive Safari.
