Safari joy for WRC3 winner Dominguez

So brutal was Africa’s punishing power that Dominguez was the only driver in the category to reach the finish without utilising restart rules. He topped the timesheets by 55min 08.8sec after four days of rough gravel action, reducing absent championship leader Roope Korhonen’s advantage to just 13 points.

The Paraguayan’ maintained a cautious policy in Friday’s opening leg, eager to avoid a repeat of his crash-induced retirement here 12 months ago. But when local rival Hamza Anwar suffered three punctures that afternoon, Dominguez was in the clear and never looked back.

Jason Bailey was the best of the rest, a top-two result giving the Canadian something to smile about after his crew worked hard to repair a damaged engine sump overnight. He overcame a broken wheel in Sunday morning's final stage to head McRae Kimathi, who was sidelined by broken steering on Saturday.

Hamza Anwar and Jeremiah Wahome, both competing on home soil, failed to restart after their cars sustained terminal damage in the same Soysambu water splash on Saturday.