Drivers contending for the championship have been pushing hard on Sunday’s stages, as separate points are awarded based on the day’s results. Evans, sitting in fourth in the competition, couldn’t deliver a good performance on his second run through the Malewa stage either.
In the morning, Evans was 10.8 seconds behind Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville’s fastest time, and now on the second attempt, the Welshman fell behind by 8.8 seconds.
“Everything’s fine. It still felt pretty rough to me in there,” Evans stated.
Neuville set the fastest time on the special stage, 1.1 seconds ahead of his teammate Ott Tänak. Thus, the sprint day standings became even closer.
Tänak leads Sunday’s results with an eight-second gap over Evans. Neuville is in third, 3.2 seconds behind Evans.
“It was good, a good stage,” Neuville briefly commented.
Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä continues to lead overwhelmingly in the overall standings of the Safari Rally. Rovanperä has a minute and a half lead over his teammate Takamoto Katsuta, allowing the Finn to drive conservatively.
Rovanperä was half a minute behind Neuville’s fastest time on the Malewa stage.
“No issues. It’s the most horrible conditions I’ve ever seen anywhere, so I just drove slowly,” Rovanperä said.
Two more special stages are scheduled for Sunday in Kenya.
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 SS17/19:
1. Kalle Rovanperä Toyota 3:19:10.7 2. Takamoto Katsuta Toyota +1:33.5 3. Adrien Fourmaux Ford +2:38.3 4. Elfyn Evans Toyota +4:27.8 5. Thierry Neuville Hyundai +10:44.0 6. Gus Greensmith Skoda +16:31.6 7. Oliver Solberg Skoda +18:21.7 8. Ott Tänak Hyundai +21:32.3 9. J. Serderidis Ford +24:13.5 10. K. Kajetanowicz Skoda +24:19.2
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
