SS15: Toyota star awakens for battle, buffalo causes hazard for Rovanperä

Toyota's Welsh star Elfyn Evans was still asleep at the wheel during Sunday morning's opening stage but awoke to battle for the victory on Super Sunday's second special stage.
Elfyn Evans.
Elfyn Evans. Photo by: Toyota GAZOO Racing WRT
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Evans clocked the fastest time and moved to within just 5.3 seconds of Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville in the day’s standings. On the Oserian’s 18-kilometer-plus stage, Evans was 3.2 seconds quicker than Hyundai’s Ott Tänak. Neuville, in turn, fell 5.5 seconds behind the Welshman.

Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä, who was leading the overall competition, experienced a hazardous moment towards the end of the special stage. A buffalo ran across the road, which the Finnish star managed to avoid by swerving to the right. Undoubtedly, the incident caused some extra heartbeats for both Rovanperä and his co-driver, Jonne Halttunen.

Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta continues in second place in the overall standings, nearly two minutes behind Rovanperä. M-Sport Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux is on track for his second consecutive podium finish in third place. Fourmaux has no challengers close behind, as Evans is more than two minutes behind the Frenchman.

In the WRC2 class, the leader Gus Greensmith holds the sixth position in the overall competition, ahead of Oliver Solberg, Tänak, and Kajetan Kajetanowicz.

Four more special stages are scheduled to be run in Kenya on Sunday.

Below is a summary of Sunday morning’s events in the Kenya Safari Rally. The competition’s standings and schedule are below the video.

Standings in the Kenya Safari Rally after SS15/19:

 1. Kalle Rovanperä  Toyota 3:07:01.5
 2. Takamoto Katsuta Toyota   +1:58.9
 4. Adrien Fourmaux  Ford     +2:57.6
 6. Elfyn Evans      Toyota   +4:59.9
 5. Thierry Neuville Hyundai +11:07.6
 6. Gus Greensmith   Skoda   +15:48.8
 7. Oliver Solberg   Skoda   +17:43.6
 8. Ott Tänak        Hyundai +22:09.5
 9. K. Kajetanowicz  Skoda   +23:00.6
10. J. Serderidis    Ford    +23:28.3
Safari Rally Itinerary (CET):
Wednesday, March 27th

08:01 Shakedown Loldia (5.40 km)

Thursday, March 28th

12:05 SS1: Super Special Kasarani (4.84 km)

Friday, March 29th

06:15 SS2: Loldia 1 (19.17 km)
07:33 SS3: Geothermal 1 (13.12 km)
08:26 SS4: Kedong 1 (31.50 km)
10:23 Service (40 min)
11:48 SS5: Loldia 2 (19.17 km)
13:06 SS6: Geothermal 2 (13.12 km)
13:59 SS7: Kedong 2 (31.50 km)

Saturday, March 30th

06:01 SS8: Soysambu 1 (29.32 km)
07:05 SS9: Elmenteita 1 (15.08 km)
08:03 SS10: Sleeping Warrior 1 (36.08 km)
10:28 Service (40 min)
12:34 SS11: Soysambu 2 (29.32 km)
13:35 SS12: Elmenteita 2 (15.08 km)
14:33 SS13: Sleeping Warrior 2 (36.08 km)

Sunday, March 31st

06:02 SS14: Malewa 1 (8.33 km)
06:52 SS15: Oserengoni 1 (18.33 km)
08:05 SS16: Hell's Gate 1 (10.53 km)
09:18 Service (15 min)
10:20 SS17: Malewa 2 (8.33 km)
11:10 SS18: Oserengoni 2 (18.33 km)
13:15 SS19: Hell's Gate 2 (10.53 km) *Power Stage

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