WRC
Solberg and Ogier retire on road section, Katsuta inherits Safari lead
Safari Rally Kenya has been turned on its head with rally leader Oliver Solberg and second-placed Sébastien Ogier both retiring on the road section to Saturday’s mid-leg service.
The pair had completed the morning’s final punishing Sleeping Warrior stage but were unable to make it back to service. Solberg’s Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 suffered electrical and transmission issues on the liaison, while team-mate Ogier’s charge came to an abrupt halt after an alternator problem struck his car on the road section.
Their retirements followed an earlier setback for Toyota Gazoo Racing on the same stage, where championship leader Elfyn Evans was forced to stop with rear-right suspension damage while running second overall.
Within the space of a single stage and its return to service, the team’s commanding 1-2-3 hold on the rally has therefore been wiped out.
Solberg and Ogier had both battled through difficult conditions on the 31km Sleeping Warrior test. Solberg completed the stage virtually blind after running out of windscreen washer fluid in the thick mud, while Ogier had set the fastest time to dramatically close the gap to the rally leader.
"The last stage was quite muddy and tough, and the mud went into the engine side and broke the alternators for both of them," deputy team principal Juha Kankkunen revealed. "Oliver also has a little bit of, let’s say, a transmission problem as well, and Elfyn we know already, so it hasn’t been the best morning.
"I mean, I have been in Kenya so many times that it doesn’t surprise me when something like that happens. The conditions have been really tough and, let’s say, the cars should be built for that. But in those muddy conditions it can go everywhere.
"Water is not that bad, but the stiff mud sticks everywhere and that can cause problems. It went into the alternator and broke the pulley, let’s say, and things all get stuck."
With both cars now out of contention, Takamoto Katsuta inherits the overall lead of the rally. The Japanese driver had adopted a cautious approach through the morning after suffering punctures earlier in the loop and running without any spare tyres remaining.
“It is super muddy and tricky and we have no spare so I completely backed off,” Katsuta said at the end of Sleeping Warrior. “It is better to stay in the game and anything can happen in the afternoon.”
Those words proved prophetic, with Katsuta now heading the rally by over a minute ahead of Hyundai drivers Thierry Neuville and Adrien Fourmaux as crews regroup at the Naivasha service park.
