Katsuta was battling for second place with Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville, but suffered time losses due to tire punctures on the loop’s final stage. Going into the afternoon’s driving loop, Katsuta is 55 seconds behind the Belgian.
“It started pretty well, but then on the second loop, there were many difficulties with the anti-lock brakes. But the time was still not too bad. So I wanted to focus on the last one,” Katsuta explained.
“We expected that punctures could happen because the new section is full of very random rocks. Those sections are not exactly the same as we saw on the recce. The rocks have moved a lot, so it was very hard to know where the rocks were and where they were not. Unfortunately, we got a double puncture, but other drivers experienced the same as well.”
Katsuta has previously performed well in Kenya, so he knows that it’s too early to contemplate the final standings at the halfway point of the event.
“No need to try not to think about the position. I think if we get through the stages without mistakes, without problems, it will be quite good. There is also a possibility to gain positions because we have already seen many things happen to everybody,” Katsuta reflected.
M-Sport Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux has crept up to fourth place, less than half a minute behind Katsuta. Fourmaux also respects the challenging nature of the Safari enough not to yet consider a potential podium finish.
“I’m quite happy with our approach in this morning’s loop. We were pushing when the road was quite clean and really slowing down in the rocky places. We are now fourth overall, which is really positive. Let’s see what will happen with the rain this afternoon. But for now, I’m sticking to my plan, and it seems to be working,” Fourmaux said.
“It’s not so difficult to push in those stages, but it’s really easy to break the car afterward. So, to be honest, I just prefer to keep my approach and then we’ll see what happens this afternoon. As I’ve said before, to get on the podium, we first need to finish.”
