Kalle Rovanperä on the attack and leader of the Safari Rally, Hyundai in ambush

Kalle Rovanperä won all the stages contested on the first loop this Friday and leads the Safari Rally ahead of Esapekka Lappi and Ott Tänak. Thierry Neuville was slowed down by a puncture and damage to his Hyundai.

Published on 29/03/2024 à 09:19

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Kalle Rovanperä on the attack and leader of the Safari Rally, Hyundai in ambush

Kalle Rovanperä tamed the dusty and tricky trails of the Safari Rally this Friday morning. The Finn dominated the morning by winning the three stages on the menu for this first loop of the day, including a nice move during SS4 compared to his competitors. Well helped by an advantageous starting position (seventh at the start of the specials), the reigning double world champion already has a small cushion at the head of the field. Rally from Kenya, 15″5 ahead of his compatriot, Esapekka Lappi.
On lands of Toyota – which remains on two quadruplets over the last two editions of the Safari – the Hyundai showed themselves at ease. The two Hyundais of Esapekka Lappi andOtt Tänak are in the Top 3, around fifteen seconds behind the leader. The winner of the last Rally Sweden is the only one to have stood up to Ralle Rovanperä this morning.
The third Hyundai, that of Thierry Neuville, had a more difficult morning: victim of a puncture in SS3, the Belgian lost several tens of seconds. In SS4, the current championship leader had to ride with a mask to protect himself from dust entering the passenger compartment, due to a damaged windshield. At the end of this first loop, Thierry Neuville is in 6th place, 48 seconds behind Kalle Rovanperä.

Drama for @thierryneuville and @MWydaeghe in the second stage of the day 💥@OfficialWRC | #WRC pic.twitter.com/R6v2DuqZow

— Hyundai Motorsport (@HMSGOfficial) March 29, 2024

The other two Toyotas, those of Takamoto Katsuta and Elfyn Evans, are behind the Hyundais and are in 4th and 5th place respectively, a good distance from the provisional podium. The Welshman suffered a slow puncture at the end of SS2.
Adrien fourmaux experienced a clean first loop, but the Frenchman is far from the pace of the leaders: the driver M-Sport is already relegated to 1'14″6 behind Kalle Rovanperä, due to poor settings on the Ford Puma. His teammate Grégoire Munster, who is discovering the Safari Rally in Rally1, has already lost more than two minutes.
In the WRC2, Gus Greensmith is currently leader of the category and is taking advantage of the setbacks of his teammate Oliver Solberg – who stopped in the 3rd and 4th special stages due to punctures – to have an already very comfortable lead of 2'20 over the Frenchman Nicolas Ciamin.