WRC 3
Vasilakis on verge of WRC3 breakthrough win
George Vasilakis completed a weather-impacted Saturday at Safari Rally Kenya on the verge of a breakthrough WRC3 and WRC Masters Cup victory.
The Greek veteran Vasilakis enters the final day of the rally with a commanding lead of nearly 37 minutes which will allow him to take a risk-free approach to Sunday in his Ford Fiesta Rally3.
In just his eighth WRC3 start, Vasilakis was the only driver in class not to encounter an issue through the first three days of action. All other crews were forced to retire and rejoin the rally.
Vasilakis’s hopes of the Masters and WRC3 double increased on Saturday when both runs of the notorious Sleeping Warrior stage were cancelled prior to the WRC3 cars arriving at the stage.
For second-placed Nikhail Sachania, a mechanical issue to his Fiesta on Friday’s second running of the Loldia stage put any ambitions of winning on home soil on hold. Rejoining Saturday, it was a day without incident but a conservative approach, as he preserved his second spot overall, saw him complete the day nearly 37 minutes down on Vasilakis.
Nataniel Bruun in Friday action at Safari Rally Kenya
© At World
Early pacesetter Nataniel Bruun was quickly up on the splits on Thursday night’s rally-opening stage but showed his inexperience, getting stuck in deep ruts, eventually finishing the stage more than 45 minutes down on his rivals.
Retiring on Thursday night, the young Bolivian went about setting the quickest stage times across Friday only to strike trouble on the afternoon’s running of the Loldia stage, breaking his Fiesta’s front-right spigot, forcing a second retirement. He did however manage to get through Saturday without further incident to complete the day in third overall.
India’s Naveen Pulligilla failed to complete Saturday, encountering a mechanical issue on Soysambu 2.
