The Toyota driver, considered one of the pre-event favourites, lost around two and a half minutes on the 31-kilometre Camp Moran stage due to a puncture. After ending Thursday in second place overall, the Japanese driver dropped well out of contention.
His Toyota team-mate Sami Pajari suffered a similar fate on the same stage. Pajari and co-driver Marko Salminen were forced to stop and change a wheel, eventually losing over three minutes.
Hyundai’s Ott Tänak stormed through Camp Moran to set the fastest time, beating team-mate Thierry Neuville by 2.1 seconds. Toyota’s Elfyn Evans dropped 8.6 seconds to Tänak’s benchmark. Kalle Rovanperä also struggled to match the pace and conceded 24.7 seconds on the stage.
Tänak now leads the rally by 13.1 seconds over Evans. Rovanperä holds third place overall, but is already 27.7 seconds adrift of the leader.
Behind Rovanperä are the M-Sport Ford duo of Josh McErlean and Gregoire Munster. The latter reported losing time stuck in Pajari’s dust on the stage.
Neuville had been handed a one-minute time penalty prior to the start of Friday’s opening stage, after his car’s service overran. However, the Belgian bounced back with an impressive run and climbed to sixth overall.
Drivers continue their silence in post-stage interviews in protest against the FIA. Among the WRC drivers, only Sami Pajari gave comments, speaking in Finnish. Gregoire Munster voiced his frustration in English over losing time behind Pajari.
“We had the windscreen break again from a loose rock. Then we got a puncture and had to stop to change it. It wasn’t an easy one anyway. Quite the opening. I don’t even know where the puncture happened. There are so many loose rocks and slippery sections – it could’ve happened anywhere,” Pajari explained.
“He lost three minutes. And when you lose three minutes, you have to move aside. I couldn’t see anything,” Munster fumed.
Currently fifth overall, Munster may later be granted a notional time adjustment, should the stewards decide he was significantly delayed behind Pajari.
Seven more special stages remain on Friday at Safari Rally Kenya. The rally concludes on Sunday.
Safari Rally Kenya standings after SS3/21:
| POS | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | 35:49.6 |
| 2. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +13.1 |
| 3. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | +27.7 |
| 4. | Joshua McErlean | Ford | +52.5 |
| 5. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +1:00.0 |
| 6. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +1:21.8 |
| 7. | Oliver Solberg | Toyota | +1:24.1 |
| 8. | Kajetan Kajetanowicz | Toyota | +1:59.4 |
| 9. | Gus Greensmith | Skoda | +2:10.9 |
| 10. | Diego Dominguez | Toyota | +2:15.6 |
| 11. | Jan Solans | Toyota | +2:30.2 |
| 12. | Fabrizio Zaldivar | Skoda | +2:35.4 |
| 13. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +2:36.8 |
| 14. | Jourdan Serderidis | Ford | +3:33.9 |
| 15. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +3:34.0 |
Safari Rally Kenya, itinerary (CET):
Wednesday, 19 March 08:01 Shakedown: Sleeping Warrior SEZ (5.16 km) Thursday, 20 March 11:05 SS1: Super Special Kasarani (4.76 km) 14:43 SS2: Mzabibu 1 (8.27 km) Friday, 21 March 05:13 SS3: Camp Moran 1 (31.40 km) 06:51 SS4: Loldia 1 (19.11 km) 08:04 SS5: Kengen Geothermal 1 (13.18 km) 08:57 SS6: Kedong 1 (15.10 km) 09:52 Service break (40 min) 11:30 SS7: Camp Moran 2 (31.40 km) 13:08 SS8: Loldia 2 (19.11 km) 14:21 SS9: Kengen Geothermal 2 (13.18 km) 15:14 SS10: Kedong 2 (15.10 km) Saturday, 22 March 06:35 SS11: Sleeping Warrior 1 (26.97 km) 07:35 SS12: Elmenteita 1 (17.31 km) 08:33 SS13: Soysambu 1 (28.97 km) 10:59 Service break (40 min) 13:05 SS14: Sleeping Warrior 2 (26.97 km) 14:05 SS15: Elmenteita 2 (17.31 km) 15:03 SS16: Soysambu 2 (28.97 km) Sunday, 23 March 04:42 SS17: Mzabibu 2 (8.27 km) 05:53 SS18: Oserengoni 1 (18.33 km) 07:05 SS19: Hell's Gate 1 (10.53 km) 08:18 Service break (15 min) 09:56 SS20: Oserengoni 2 (18.33 km) 12:15 SS21: Hell's Gate 2 (10.53 km) *Power Stage
