Safari Rally Kenya – Rovanperä celebrating, the French struggling

For the moment, the Safari Rally is keeping all its promises but also its reputation. That of a rally ruthless, cruel sometimes. Friday afternoon, this was again the case. Ogier, Neuville, Breen, Fourmaux : the silted and rocky tracks of Kenya have again claimed several victims.

In the midst of the chaos, it was Kalle Rovanperä who came out on top. The championship leader, in a sweeping position for this first full day of racing, made no mistakes and came back little by little. -small towards the head of the race. Perhaps his role as opener was ultimately beneficial to him, judging by the state of the trail in the Kedong special stage, during SS7. A portion of this stage, called the fesh-fech, was in a horrible state, almost impassable.

These magnificent images of Thierry Neuville in the heart of fech-fech 🤩#WRCSafariRally pic.twitter.com/sJdlGYhbU6

- CANAL + Sport (@CanalplusSport) June 24, 2022

The Finn managed to climb back to first place thanks in particular to the setbacks of his opponents, notably those of Sébastien Ogier.

Concerns for Ogier, Fourmaux and Breen, Rovanperä takes off

The reigning world champion took the lead of the rally during SS5, after setting the fastest time. The following special, the Frenchman confirmed his pace with a new best time. But at the terrible ES7, the Gapençais was affected by the bad luck of a puncture. The Ogier-Veillas duo decided to stop to change tires. The price to pay ? 2 minutes and 20 seconds lost on Rovanperä.

Toyota était alors en position de force avant l’ES7, avec 4 voitures aux 4 premières places. Désormais, Ott Tänak is inserted into 3rd position, taking advantage of Katsuta's poor time during SS7. The Japanese said he was bothered by Craig Breen's sinking Ford, which ran aground a few hectometers further on, the victim of a loss of direction, according to the images.

M-Sport a enregistré un 3e abandon en seulement une journée puisque qu’Adrien Fourmaux also had to retire after SS5. The Lille resident encountered a mechanical problem with his Ford Puma. The only remaining representative of the British team, Gus Greensmith is also experiencing an ordeal and is more than 14 minutes behind overall.

😬 Issues for @AdrienFourmaux we SS5?!

Live Updates & Live Stream 👉 https://t.co/IXbfRuzl7M#WRC I #WRCLive I @wrcsafarirally pic.twitter.com/4u79t00yJ2

- World Rally Championship (@OfficialWRC) June 24, 2022

Parmi les autres rescapés de cette journée du vendredi, Thierry Neuville a essayé de guider sa Hyundai du mieux qu’il pouvait, malgré ses nombreuses plaintes à chaque fin de spéciale. Le Belge, victime d’une crevaison dans la dernière spéciale, est 5e au classement général, à près d’une minute du leader.

The general classification after SS7: 

The complete general classification

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