WRC
Solberg holds firm as Ogier closes in after Evans retirement
Oliver Solberg retained the lead of Safari Rally Kenya after a dramatic Saturday morning that claimed championship leader Elfyn Evans and delivered another punishing test of endurance around Naivasha.
The Swede returned to the midday service halt with a 42.6sec advantage over Toyota Gazoo Racing team-mate Ogier after tackling the morning’s trio of stages - Soysambu, Elmenteita and the notoriously demanding Sleeping Warrior.
The biggest drama unfolded on the 31km Sleeping Warrior test, where Evans’ rally came to an abrupt end while running second overall. The Welshman suffered rear-right suspension damage on his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 and was seen dragging the car through thick mud before pulling over.
Solberg’s own morning proved equally eventful. The 24-year-old half-spun into bushes on SS11 before suffering a double right-side puncture on SS12 that cost him more than 20sec.
Sleeping Warrior brought further complications when Solberg ran out of windscreen washer fluid in the mud, leaving him struggling for visibility through the closing kilometres.
“Not good. Ogier took a minute, but what can I do?” Solberg said at the stop control. “I have no spare tyres and I can’t see anything. I just tried to be smart.”
Ogier endured a turbulent start to the loop but ultimately emerged as the biggest beneficiary. The nine-time world champion dropped two minutes and fell out of the podium positions after stopping to change a punctured left-rear wheel on SS11.
Evans retired with suspension damage
© WRC
However, the Frenchman responded immediately, winning SS12 before producing a huge time on Sleeping Warrior - 1min 03.7sec quicker than Solberg - to climb back into second overall.
Behind the leading duo, the terrain continued to punish the chasing pack. Takamoto Katsuta suffered a double puncture on SS12 but climbed to third after team-mate Sami Pajari lost more than five minutes on the same stage when a rear tyre delaminated.
Despite reaching the end of SS13 with steam pouring from their Hyundai i20 N Rally1 cars, Thierry Neuville and Adrien Fourmaux both overtook Pajari to round out the top five. Esapekka Lappi crawled through the final kilometres after running out of washer fluid but rose to sixth, with Pajari now seventh and more than six minutes back from the lead.
Official classifications remain provisional following the stoppage of SS13.
