On the over 19-kilometre-long Loldia stage, Rovanperä took the top spot, edging out his fellow Finn by a slim 0.9 seconds. Both Finnish drivers expressed frustration with their cars’ handling, despite posting times that were competitive relative to others.
“I don’t want to say really bad words, but it was horrible. Understeering so much. I don’t understand how we can do any time in the stage. It’s horrible. We shouldn’t have struggled,” Rovanperä lamented.
“I mean, was an okay stage, but massive understeer. I don’t know if we can make it better but times could be better if the car was better for me,” Lappi commented.
Essentially, every top driver complained about understeer. The Hyundai drivers were in form compared to Toyota, with Ott Tänak being the third fastest on the stage, ahead of Thierry Neuville. The duo was just over two seconds behind Rovanperä’s pace.
In the overall standings, Rovanperä moved to the rally lead, 1.4 seconds ahead of Tänak. Lappi is in third place, with Neuville in fourth. The top four are separated by only 1.8 seconds.
“I was struggling with a lot of understeer, and on the downhill there was massive cleaning. It’s very difficult,” Neuville explained.
“Generally low grip, somehow really struggling. Only front wheel drive, very hard at the moment, car is not working at all,” Tänak vented.
Toyota’s Elfyn Evans was 11.8 seconds off the pace in Friday morning’s opening stage. In the overall standings, Evans is sixth, behind teammate Takamoto Katsuta.
“Not a good feeling, really struggling with the balance. Not what we expected after shakedown,” Evans stated.
Friday at the Safari Rally will see five more special stages. The competition concludes on Sunday.
Situation after SS2/19 at the Safari Rally:
1. Kalle Rovanperä Toyota 17:19.7 2. Ott Tänak Hyundai +1.4 3. Esapekka Lappi Hyundai +1.6 4. Thierry Neuville Hyundai +1.8 5. Takamoto Katsuta Toyota +10.0 6. Elfyn Evans Toyota +12.7 7. Adrien Fourmaux Ford +15.3 8. Gregoire Munster Ford +42.3 9. Oliver Solberg Skoda +1:03.2 10. Jourdan Serderidis Ford +1:36.4
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
