Safari Rally: Greensmith dominates WRC2, Ciamin 4th

The first step of this 3^e round of the year began Thursday evening during the Kasarani superspecial run in the suburbs of Nairobi. The rest was much more classic with a loop of three stages to be contested twice. These three ES, now well known, represented 63,79 km traced all around Lake Naivasha.

Winner of SS1, Fergus Greensmith extended his domination today with 4 best times. Having experienced a short night, the Mancunian was not in the best form, but he gritted his teeth to manage to avoid the traps and stay in the lead. “ I went through the hardest afternoon of my career, he whispered. I need a bed! » It must be said that the Skoda driver's task was made easier by the two punctures experienced by Oliver Solberg during the morning.

« I drive slower than last year, however assured Oliver Solberg. I don't understand how we could have suffered these punctures. I tried to stay in the middle of the road while avoiding the biggest stones, but that didn't stop us from puncturing. » Ranked 7^e at the end of the morning, the Swede had already returned 3^e at the end of the day. If he wants to take 2^e rank, he will have to overtake Kajetan Kajetanowicz who had a good day despite engine problems.

Ranked 4^e, Nicolas Ciamin could be satisfied with his stage. Coming with the desire not to take any risks to try to reach the finish with big points, the Niçois stuck to his plan. “ It can sometimes be frustrating, he indicated. We could go faster, but I'm not sure we would go very far. The car worked well, even though we weren't high enough for the rails on the stages. We also had a lot of dust in the cabin during the afternoon. Rain is forecast for Saturday. If this were the case, it would allow me to have experienced everything about this event. »

This ranking is likely to be called into question tomorrow at the end of the most difficult day of the rally. 6 special stages are on the program with 160,96 km timed.