Neuville clinched the fastest time on the Kasarani spectator stage with a slim margin of 0.1 seconds over Tänak. Thus, Neuville will start as the leading driver into the first proper day of the rally on Friday.
“It will be a challenging event. Our fingers are crossed that, this time, we get through without any technical problems or mistakes. I think we are well prepared and I am feeling good in the car, so it’s always good to start a rally like this,” said Neuville, who is leading the WRC series.
“It’s clearly a tough one. The first thing in my mind is to get through without too much trouble. For sure, there will be some stress at times, and with the weather we need the luck on our side.” Tänak said.
World Champion Kalle Rovanperä placed third on the Safari’s opening stage in Nairobi. The Finnish Toyota driver was 0.8 seconds behind Neuville’s leading time.
Rovanperä speculated immediately after finishing that those who started the stage later had a slight advantage.
“This stage was incredibly slippery, and it will definitely clean up a lot. Let’s hope we don’t give up too much on this stage. We’ll try to maintain a good pace for the rest of the week,” Rovanperä summarised.
Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta finished the opening stage in fourth, ahead of Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi. Among the other Rally1 drivers, Elfyn Evans is in sixth, Adrien Fourmaux in seventh, and Gregoire Munster in ninth.
British driver Gus Greensmith took the lead in the WRC2 class ahead of Oliver Solberg.
On Friday, six special stages will be run in the Safari Rally. The competition concludes on Sunday.
Safari Rally standings after SS1/19:
1. Thierry Neuville Hyundai 3:19.9 2. Ott Tänak Hyundai +0.1 3. Kalle Rovanperä Toyota +0.8 4. Takamoto Katsuta Toyota +0.9 5. Esapekka Lappi Hyundai +1.5 6. Elfyn Evans Toyota +1.7 7. Adrien Fourmaux Ford +2.2 8. Gus Greensmith Skoda +6.6 9. Gregoire Munster Ford +8.6 10. Oliver Solberg Skoda +9.4
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
