The over 36-kilometer Sleeping Warrior stage provided plenty of challenges due to its conditions, and Lappi, opening the road, had to dodge animals.
Lappi couldn’t avoid all the animals, as he hit a zebra with the right corner of his Hyundai. He had to drive slower towards the end of the stage.
“We’ve got it all: no hybrid, a flat tire, and we hit a zebra. There were loads of animals otherwise too, and I had to brake for them as well,” Lappi said.
Gaps widened significantly on the Sleeping Warrior special stage. Rally leader Kalle Rovanperä set a dominant fastest time, nearly half a minute ahead of Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville.
“It’s situations like this where you can do well by driving clean, this was an incredibly tricky stage. I took care of the tyres and was quite sensible,” Rovanperä shared.
Rovanperä has a nearly one-and-a-half-minute lead in the competition over Neuville, who moved up to second in the race ahead of Takamoto Katsuta, who suffered a tire puncture.
“That’s a hell of a stage. I had a clean run through, but the muddy places at the beginning were really crazy. Just before the finish line we drove over a stone and we bent something,” Neuville recounted.
The morning loop stretched the gaps in the overall competition standings. Third-placed Katsuta is nearly two and a half minutes behind Rovanperä, and M-Sport Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux is almost three minutes behind. Elfyn Evans, who suffered two tire punctures, is nearly four minutes off the lead.
Three more special stages will be run in the Safari Rally on Saturday after the service break. The competition concludes on Sunday.
Below is a summary of Friday afternoon’s events in the Kenya Safari Rally. The competition’s standings and schedule are below the video.
Standings in the Kenya Safari Rally after SS10/19:
1. Kalle Rovanperä Toyota 2:02:27.0 2. Thierry Neuville Hyundai +1:27.9 3. Takamoto Katsuta Toyota +2:22.9 4. Adrien Fourmaux Ford +2:50.6 5. Elfyn Evans Toyota +3:43.8 6. Gus Greensmith Skoda +11:47.3 7. Oliver Solberg Skoda +14:09.3 8. J. Serderidis Ford +16:05.5 9. K. Kajetanowicz Skoda +16:23.0 10. Nicolas Ciamin Hyundai +19:48.1
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
