Neuville started the Hell’s Gate stage in the lead on Sunday’s drive, but lost time after hitting a massive rock. It appeared that the cars ahead had flung large rocks onto the road from the inside bank. Neuville was 17.3 seconds behind Toyota’s Elfyn Evans, who set the fastest time, as the right rear wheel was barely staying on by the end of the stage.
“Loose stones! I don’t know where they came from, two of them! I had to slow down to get the car back,” fumed Neuville.
Evans set the fastest time on the morning’s final special stage and moved up to second place in Sunday’s standings, just three-tenths of a second behind Hyundai’s Ott Tänak. For the time being, Neuville is in third, a good 12 seconds behind Tänak. The day’s fastest driver will earn seven championship points, with six for second place and so on. The top seven drivers earn additional points, and points are also available for the five fastest on the concluding Power Stage.
“Was a clean enough run. So many huge stones in the line, sometimes very close. Sometimes it’s a lottery like that,” said Evans.
“I spun in here and reversed. Yeah.. some car in the front has put massive stones on the road. In a 4th gear corner I spun and reversed. It was in the middle of the first part,” Tänak summarized.
Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä navigated through the rocky sections and continues to lead the overall competition by nearly two minutes ahead of teammate Takamoto Katsuta. M-Sport Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux is on track for his second consecutive podium finish in third place.
“It hasn’t been an easy loop. Driving so carefully and it feels like making more mistakes than driving normally. Very soft here and lots of loose stones. No issues for us,” Rovanperä commented.
Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi‘s luckless event took another turn when a transmission issue struck the driver on the Hell’s Gate stage. Lappi then made a sarcastic comment towards his team at the end of the special stage.
“Transmission finished! It was a good decision to drive yesterday,” said Lappi.
Three more special stages will be run in Kenya on Sunday after the service break.
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 SS16/19:
1. Kalle Rovanperä Toyota 3:12:39.6 2. Takamoto Katsuta Toyota +1:53.5 4. Adrien Fourmaux Ford +2:57.4 6. Elfyn Evans Toyota +4:51.1 5. Thierry Neuville Hyundai +11:16.1 6. Gus Greensmith Skoda +16:15.3 7. Oliver Solberg Skoda +18:09.7 8. Ott Tänak Hyundai +22:03.3 9. K. Kajetanowicz Skoda +23:47.1 10. J. Serderidis Ford +24:09.0
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
