Foto: Red Bull Content Pool
In the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), the third stage of the season “Safari Rally Kenya” has ended, in which the Finnish crew Kalle Rovanpera / Jonne Haltunen secured the first victory in the 2024 season for both themselves and the Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team.
Although the drivers of Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team, Thierry Neuville and Ots Tanak, were faster in the first stage of the rally on Thursday evening, two-time world champion Rovanpera, who was the fastest in all six stages, entered the fight for victory already on Friday. At the end of the day, the Finnish lead over teammate Elfin Evans reached 56.9 seconds, while Takamoto Katsuta’s Toyota crew already lost more than a minute. The first full day of the rally turned out to be unsuccessful for the Hyundai drivers – Neuville broke a wheel already in the morning stage, while Tanaks and Esapeka Lapi, the winner of the previous stage, retired in the continuation.
Foto: Red Bull Content Pool
The third day of Safari Rally Kenya continued to be eventful. In the first stage of the day, Evans had to change a wheel, while in the very next stage, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team driver Gregoire Munster had to retire after damaging his car’s suspension. The Hyundai team was also hit by technical problems on Saturday, with Neuville losing time due to problems with the fuel pump. Several leading crews had at least one puncture and change of tires during the day – the record holder with four punctures was Evans. Tanak and Lapi were also disturbed by African fauna, with Lapi even catching a zebra running across the road. At the end of the day, Rovanpera had increased his advantage over Katsuta to a safe 2 minutes and 8.9 seconds, thus earning the first 18 points of the overall championship, while M-Sport driver Adrien Furmo had moved up to third place. Katsuta and Furmo had 15 and 13 points respectively after Saturday, Evans got ten points for the fourth place after Saturday, and Neuville got eight points.
In Sunday’s remaining six stages, Rovanpera took care to hold on to the overall lead and take his first win of the 2024 season. For the first time this season, Rovanpera’s team mate, Japanese Katsuta, also got on the podium, but for the second stage in a row, the Frenchman Furmo finished in third place. Evans finished the rally in fourth place, Neuville was fifth, while the fastest WRC2 drivers Gus Greensmith (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) and Oliver Solberg (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) ranked sixth and seventh, respectively.
In Sunday’s Super Sunday, the Hyundai drivers got a little revenge for their failures at the beginning of the rally. Tanak scored a maximum seven points and added four more for second place in the Power Stage, while Neuville collected six points on Sunday and won the Power Stage to earn an additional five points overall.
Foto: Red Bull Content Pool
“It is special to win here, this rally is particularly difficult. Our team has also always been fast here, so it’s nice that we could be ahead this time as well. Many thanks to the team, everyone did a great job to keep the car running smoothly. Jonni and I also drove well, it’s hard to complete the Safari Rally better than we did, without any problems throughout the weekend,” says the winner Kalle Rovanpera after the finish, wishing his victory to a good friend who celebrates his birthday today.
In the overall standings of the World Championship after three rounds, Novil has accumulated 67 points, while Evans follows the Belgian with 61 points. The third place is occupied by Formo with 46 points, but only 3 points separate Tanaka, Rowanperu and Katsutu, who are in fourth to sixth place. In the team standings, Toyota Gazoo Racing is four points ahead of Hyundai Shell Mobis with 131 points, while M-Sport Ford is in third place with 72 points.
In just three weeks, the FIA World Rally Championship will return to Europe, with WRC crews competing in Rally Croatia on April 18-21.
Rally results:
Overall rating:
1. T.Noivils, 67
2. E.Evans, 61
3. A.Formo, 46
4. O. Tanaks, 33
5. K. Rovanpera, 31
6. T.Katsuta, 30
7. S. Ogier, 24
8. E.Lapi, 23
2024-03-31 16:08:04
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