Safari Rally – SS2: Sébastien Ogier sets the fastest time, disaster for Hyundai

A return to normal conditions on this short second stage of the Safari Rally. After the appalling conditions of SS1, the competitors found dry ground on this short SS2, barely over 8 kilometers long, which was almost a circuit in shape. Logically, there was a bit more sweeping on this stage than on the previous one, which was still rutted by the passage of competitors last year, as Alexandre Coria, the co-driver of [name missing], told us yesterday.Adrien fourmauxDespite the surrounding dust, Sébastien OgierStarting from sixth position, he set the fastest time, 0,4 seconds ahead of Sami Pajari in second. Third-placed Takamoto Katsuta of Japan was able to resolve the radio issues he experienced during the first special stage.

By setting the fourth fastest time on the special stage in 7:22.4 and relegating Elfyn Evans to 3,3 seconds behind, Oliver Solberg holds a 33,3-second lead over his Welsh teammate at the end of this first leg: an atypical gap for the driver of the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 number 33! The Swede is therefore leading the overall standings tonight, as was the case at the end of the first stage of the Rally from Sweden, with the difference that he will not be opening the road tomorrow and will start in second position as he did today. Sébastien Ogier moves up to third place overall, 1:05.1 behind Solberg.

As for HyundaiThe situation worsened in this special stage. The Fourmaux-Coria duo suffered a mechanical problem and lost further ground; they are now 2:38.1 behind Oliver Solberg. Thierry Neuville He too experienced a technical problem, apparently related to water temperature, causing him to lose more than a second per kilometer to the leading Toyotas on this stage. He is currently 2:21.9 behind the leader. A day to forget for Hyundai, especially since Esapekka Lappi was also penalized by problems, including an oil and water temperature warning, and therefore lost even more time. In this context, Jon Armstrong slipped ahead of the Hyundais of Fourmaux and Lappi. After a good start to the stage that could have allowed him to move up into the Toyota pack, Josh McErlean ultimately finished the stage in 9th place.

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WRC – Safari Rally
The classification of SS2:

The overall standings at the end of the first stage:

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