Rovanperä secured his third consecutive fastest stage time in a commanding manner. Over the 31.5-kilometer-long Kedong stage, the Finnish star was 11.1 seconds quicker than Hyundai’s Ott Tänak, who recorded the second-best time.
“This stage has been really nice every year. For sure I want to commit and even with the new notes. There are very heavy things in this long stage,” Rovanperä shared.
In the overall standings, Rovanperä’s lead over Hyundai’s Finnish driver Esapekka Lappi is 15.5 seconds, with Tänak in third, trailing Lappi by 1.3 seconds.
“All good, no problems. Quite a steady stage. Everything good. Not really satisifed with the damping we have, kicked me out of the line,” Lappi commented.
“I tried to have a clean run. Very very dangerous in places, some places we were really on the nose. The car is running okay so no drama for us,” Tänak explained.
Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta is in fourth place in the event, but already over 40 seconds behind the leader. Toyota’s Elfyn Evans is fifth, ahead of Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville.
Neuville damaged the right rear corner of his car on the previous stage. Since the car had some extra ventilation and there was expected to be sand dust inside, Neuville and co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe resorted to a creative solution.
Neuville and Wydaeghe equipped themselves with ski goggles and face masks.
“It was okay. Better than I thought. Lucky we had the mask. We were expecting more dust on the windscreen. We were very unlucky with the puncture, we also lost the hybrid,” Neuville stated.
In the WRC2 class, Gus Greensmith continues to lead. Oliver Solberg suffered another tire puncture, while the Polish driver Kajetan Kajetanowicz faced technical issues.
Three more special stages are scheduled for Friday in the Safari Rally after the service break. The event concludes on Sunday.
Standings in the Kenya Safari Rally after SS4/19:
1. Kalle Rovanperä Toyota 39:53.1 2. Esapekka Lappi Hyundai +15.5 3. Ott Tänak Hyundai +16.8 4. Takamoto Katsuta Toyota +41.3 5. Elfyn Evans Toyota +43.1 6. Thierry Neuville Hyundai +48.0 7. Adrien Fourmaux Ford +1:14.6 8. Gregoire Munster Ford +2:23.8 9. Gus Greensmith Skoda +3:26.5
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
