Safari Rally – Adrien Fourmaux first victim in Kenya

In the future, if Hyundai continues to invest in the WRC, it may be necessary to consider hiring a Kenyan sorcerer to lift the spell that has been plaguing the South Korean team year after year. This year, Thursday featured two special stages for the first time instead of just the Kasarani stage outside Nairobi. These 13,03 km did not seem like an insurmountable obstacle. However, it was enough to cause damage to the Hyundai ranks.

Authors of a pretty two-wheeler, Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe were setting a good time in the new Mzabibu section when they suddenly lost time towards the end. Back in the service park, the Belgians worked on his car for a while on the front left side before parking it in the closed park. Thierry then carried out his media duties, saying he did not know what was wrong with his Rally1. The 19s conceded to the leader did not worry him, but on the other hand he wondered if the short 7-minute service that would start the rest of the stage would allow him to find a solution. On the sister car ofAdrien fourmaux and Alexandre Coria, the evil seemed to have already been identified.

Author of a cautious ES1 (5^e time), the French crew was unable to even reach the start of SS2. After a one-hour regroup, the i20 Rally1 never wanted to restart. When I tried to start it, the engine started, then it stopped... and it never started again., explained the pilot. We tried several solutions, like using the batteries in our tire guns to give the battery a little juice, but this only resulted in occasional hiccups because more power would have been needed. When electronics get involved, it's the worst thing that can happen to a race car. "For half an hour in the middle of a pressing crowd, Adrien and Alex tried to push their voiceless vehicle to get her to sing again, but they finally gave in. This is absolutely not the departure of rally that we wished, he breathed, legitimately disappointed. The race is certainly still very long, but even in such a difficult event, 10 minutes is a long way to make up ground. »

For Hyundai, which had chosen to make the trip with 2024 cars to take advantage of their reliability..., the ray of sunshine came fromOtt Tänak who leads, 2''4 ahead of Takamoto Katsuta.

Tomorrow, the competitors will get down to business with more than 144 km of timed races on sometimes rutted paths where rain could also cloud the waters.