Kenya Notebook: Morning excitement

At 7 a.m. this morning, the sun had barely passed the crest of the hills surrounding Lake Naivasha when the first difficulty of the day already presented itself.

Having obviously overindulged in the party given in the neighboring field, one person had not found a better parking space than in front of the hotel exit gate... preventing any movement!

Au parc d’assistance en revanche, pas de problème de logistique. Toutes les équipes étaient dans l’attente de leurs équipages qui quittaient régulièrement le parc fermé. Dani Sordo était le premier à rejoindre Hyundai suivi par Elfyn Evans chez Toyota. Courte de 15 min, cette séquence ne permettait pas de grosse intervention. Pendant qu’une partie des mécanos dévolus à la voiture de Thierry Neuville carried out a purge (pressure, open, closed, etc.), others took the opportunity to evacuate the last blades of grass from Friday from the engine compartment.

While among the pros the organization is tight, among the amateurs installed under a huge marquee, it is a little less… orderly. Some competitors have original storage with all the equipment piled up in a skip or simply thrown into the back of a pick-up.

Others, on the contrary, try to imitate factories with well-thought-out layouts. Seeking to be efficient, the boss of a structure brought together his mechanics to give a short briefing on what will need to change. A temperamental brake caliper will ultimately require the intervention of 4 people, but the Fiesta Rally2 will leave the park with an older part. Damaged during contact with a tree, Carl Tundo's Polo filled with dust which a member of the team tried to remove using a very practical vacuum cleaner. Even if some drivers received penalties, all returned to face the Saturday specials.