Lappi, who was competing in the lead battle, encountered problems on the Loldia special stage, which was run for the second time. Lappi’s Hyundai ultimately stopped by the side of the stage due to transmission issues, leading to a retirement.
Lappi was in second place after the Friday morning loop in the iconic rally. He was the fastest at the first split time of the Loldia stage, indicating that the Finnish Hyundai driver was on a strong attack before his setback.
Lappi had won the previous round in Sweden, but a second consecutive top result would not be achieved. Lappi and Ferm can continue the competition on Saturday, giving them a chance to score points on Sunday.
Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä continues to lead the Safari Rally ahead of Ott Tänak, who moved up to second following his teammate’s troubles.
“That’s a big shame (Lappi’s retirement). For us, a difficult stage once again. Thierry’s (Neuville) car had so much work needed in service so the guys couldn’t work on our car. It was a big struggle again like this morning.” Tänak said.
Rovanperä set the fastest time on the Loldia stage, with a 0.6-second margin over his teammates Takamoto Katsuta and Elfyn Evans. In the overall standings, he has an 18.6-second lead over Tänak.
“We found something small that we could do with the car, but I am still not happy on this stage. I would like the gap to be a bit bigger but it’s okay at this point” Rovanperä stated.
Katsuta is in third place in Kenya, ahead of Evans and Neuville. The trio is within a tight margin of just over ten seconds.
Two more special stages will be run in the Safari Rally on Friday. The competition ends on Sunday.
See below for a summary of Friday morning’s events at the Kenya Safari Rally. The competition standings and itinerary can be found beneath the video.
Standings in the Kenya Safari Rally after SS5/19:
1. Kalle Rovanperä Toyota 53:49.8 2. Ott Tänak Hyundai +18.6 3. Takamoto Katsuta Toyota +41.9 4. Elfyn Evans Toyota +43.7 5. Thierry Neuville Hyundai +52.4 6. Adrien Fourmaux Ford +1:17.2 7. Gregoire Munster Ford +2:50.7 8. Gus Greensmith Skoda +4:17.6 9. J. Serderidis Ford +6:08.2 10. K. Kajetanowicz Skoda +7:05.9
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
