Masterclass in Spicy Weather at Safari Rally Kenya ⛈

📺 Watch Safari Rally Kenya 2022 on Red Bull TV: win.gs/safarir...
Kalle Rovanperä stretched his Safari Rally Kenya lead to more than half a minute on Saturday afternoon as wet weather conditions spiced up the penultimate leg.
On a day which troubled more of the FIA World Rally Championship’s leading drivers, Rovanperä overcame sickness worries to increase his advantage and headed a Toyota GR Yaris quartet in front of Elfyn Evans.
Championship leader Rovanperä seized the lead of this sixth round late on Friday when team-mate and early polesitter Sébastien Ogier stopped to change a wheel. He measured his pace over the morning and was happy to keep a watchful eye on those behind.
The afternoon loop was a completely different story. Downpours in the final pair of stages caused chaos as the dry and dusty roads turned to mud, with grip levels comparable to ice.
Rovanperä fared well in the extreme conditions despite feeling under the weather himself. He outpaced the entire the field by 11.2sec at Elmenteita 2 before adding another 13.2sec to his lead in the Sleeping Warrior finale.
The 21-year-old will start Sunday’s final leg a hefty 40.3sec clear at the top.
“It was quite a big job just to stay on the road today,” said Rovanperä. “There is no grip in the mud here and sometimes there is so much water that it's hard to get through.
“I just realised straight away it was slippery and I tried to be a bit more clever in places where I saw other drivers' lines going wide or something. Basically, I just tried to keep it clean.
"I have not been feeling too good today. It's not with the stomach, but I feel I am quite tired. Hopefully tomorrow is better,” he added.
Evans punctured on SS10 and was also lucky to survive a close call with a tree on the last stage. The Welshman put the mishap down to poor visibility - the result of a broken windscreen washer motor - but ended 35.3sec clear of Takamoto Katsuta.
Katsuta was slow out of the blocks and dropped out of the runners-up spot on the first stage at Soysambu. Two deflated tyres and a late overshoot were the only real bumps in the road for the Japanese driver and he remains on target to claim a second consecutive Kenya podium.
Katsuta’s place in the leading trio was made possible by Thierry Neuville’s demise on SS13. The Hyundai driver grabbed a brace of early stage wins, but lost time when his i20 N was slow to restart following a stall. His day ended just 1km later following a shunt with a tree.
Neuville’s retirement added insult to injury for his Hyundai Motorsport squad, with Estonian driver Ott Tänak also sidelined by propshaft failure earlier in the day. Such was the rate of attrition, Neuville will start Sunday in fifth overall despite incurring a 10min penalty for failing to finish the final stage.
Eight-time world champion Ogier was aided by the drama unfolding ahead and brought his Yaris home 1min 22.7sec adrift of the podium in fourth overall, while Oliver Solberg completed the top six. The Hyundai youngster incurred 1min 30sec in time penalties after making roadside repairs to his car’s suspension and trailed the leaders by over 12 minutes at close of play.
Craig Breen nursed a rear suspension issue but remained M-Sport Ford’s leading driver in seventh overall. His Puma team was left depleted by retirements, with Gus Greensmith halted by accident damage caused by a roll and Adrien Fourmaux succumbing to broken suspension.
Sunday’s finale features three stages - each run twice - located on the southern side of Lake Naivasha. The leg totals 87.20km.
Leading positions after Saturday:
1. K Rovanperä / J Halttunen FIN Toyota GR Yaris 2hr 52min 39.7sec
2. E Evans / S Martin GBR Toyota GR Yaris +40.3sec
3. T Katsuta / A Johnston JPN Toyota GR Yaris +1min 25.6sec
4. S Ogier / B Veillas FRA Toyota GR Yaris +2min 38.3sec
5. T Neuville / M Wydaeghe BEL Hyundai i20 N +10min 59.3sec
6. O Solberg / E Edmondson SWE Hyundai i20 N +12min 19.1sec
#safarirallykenya #safarirally #wrc
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[@RedBullRally]

📺 Watch daily highlights from Safari Rally Kenya 2022 on Red Bull TV: win.gs/safarirally

[@ikr9358]

Best damn advertisement for Toyota that I've ever seen. With cars falling apart left and right, the Toyotas just keep chugging along.

[@timmkk2043]

Thats why even basic Toyotas are so sought after here in Kenya, my dads 1997 manual Toyota still runs smoothly till this day with no major repairs and zero breakdowns the entire 20 years he's had it, we've taken it through the roughest dirt roads in villages it still retains most of its original parts and look, amazing that it was bought used.

[@mpmr10]

@@timmkk2043 It's also really easy to find spare parts for older Toyotas, and they wont break your bank! Especially older ones are great for rough conditions, because there is no unnecessary electronics to break down. I had one as a "field car" as a kid. Used to drive it on a track made to a field after a harvest, and also on ice circuit made to that same field in winter, it was so much fun! It's nice and a decently safe hobby, also it teaches you driving from young age (i was around 9 - 10 when i started)!

[@Fenrir555]

Toyota was the king of the Safari rally back in the day with the Celica GT4. Glad to see them still living up to that reputation.

[@bogged2theeyeballs695]

Is there anything this rally doesn't have ?? Love it. Another Kalle masterclass driving to the conditions and creating his own luck. Hope he brings it home to stretch his lead in the championship. Toyota tough !! 🔥💪💪🔥

[@Kiss__Kiss]

Toyota... Showing the world that even in Kenya, the brand is Reliable/Loyal.

[@MOSSFEEN]

Loyal ????

[@BrunoDECOURCY]

It has always been the way in Bndama Rallye too. The only opponents Toyota had was either Datsun (Nissan) or Peugeot.

[@davidrodgers9558]

Lol... No just like Honda... Toyota just throwing more money then the rest... Toyota is the most over rated vehicle ever... Next

[@itgamingke]

I mean since day one Toyota has been the most popular car brand in Kenya

[@rzero21]

what do you meab by loyal? wtf

[@max_plastic]

If Toyota finish 1-4 or even 1-3 in such tough rally, that would be amazing triumph, it's rather uncommon in general, but in Kenya.... Nice.

[@colossal4279]

Should've placed a bet😂

[@sammbiu6692]

Karibu Kenya. Now Y'all know why this is the toughest Rally on Earth.

[@princeofosun7451]

As they say in Kenya the car infront of you is always a Toyota, the most reliable car in Africa, they know our terrain even UN use Landcruiser as thee official car, the best brad in Africa Toyota!

[@genesisjedidiah2707]

Rally Kenya and its drama🧡

[@victormaina9343]

I feel bad for Thierry Neuville am huge fan of him n Hyundai group at large. Thierry Neuville i feel you bro, you always entertain Kenyan's! God bless

[@eliasmugambiscreenprinters3853]

I like Thierry too. He is extremely generous. God bless him.

[@victormaina9343]

@@eliasmugambiscreenprinters3853 it's my prayer that one day he wins the toughest rally Safar Rally Kenya edition... And end this Toyota dominance since those days.. hope Hyundai group are learning something new to end Toyota dominance! Thierry Neuville his spins always makes Kenyan's fans more excited!

[@user-uk4vg8ny1z]

TOYOTA・GAZOO・Racing🇯🇵🗾🇫🇮🇬🇧🇯🇵🇫🇷

[@TheRenaissanceGuys]

Amazing stage that Sleeping Warrior! More like that!

[@donbrashsux]

I bet Toyota sales in Kenya are high

[@nagasako7]

That Finn was flying in Kenya

[@Lindaniification]

feeling bad for team hyundai

[@nikolanikolovski85]

WRC is one of the best sports on the planet and it's ruined by terrible media coverage. Like 99% of this sports history is not seen on TV. Highlights have like 70% driver interviews and 30% action. WHY? It's 2022 and we can't even see a god damn crash from a proper camera. I can't emphasize enough just how moronic it is! Imagine if you can't watch F1 races live, with highlights where you only see glimpses of the action. You only hear a commentator mentioning an incident between Max and Luis. But you never saw it. What the f.. is wrong with people in charge of WRC.

[@oness1334]

I agree. I have WRC+ and coverage is terrible. Fir example you hear commentators say someone stopped but they don't show us what's going on. They can easily do picture in picture. For example when Ogier was changing tyre a PIP would have been great. Show us the drama. Also it seems they have very few on ground cameras. They should have on ground cameras at least at all or most difficult areas. The old Safari Rally we used to have over one hour of highlights but again that event was different.

[@Kipklaus]

True,we are in Kenya 🇰🇪 and we can't even have live shows like last year's Safari!!! Very disorganized

[@GraceMusyoka]

You need a 🏅 medal for that statement. You got it right

[@rzero21]

Hope Toyota is able to Finish in 1-2-3-4 positions

[@groovehubkenya]

Toyota for Kenya

[@taitaniumgamer3448]

No rally awsome without toyotas😎😎

[@marcelogarcia7943]

Amazing Toyota When things get serious you can always rely on Toyota Unlike huyundai and ford rubbish

[@huwzebediahthomas9193]

chaos. WRC cars are too fragile for this. 😎

[@stormbg39]

Not Toyotas 😎

[@funnyvideos.57]

The Toyota's are the new lancia's GR =HF

[@l.mpatamali8738]

😂All the drivers keep saying "I don't know.."

[@eliab_tekk]

Evans 😂, brutal

[@evanmaniac2549]

😂😂😂Pity Evans almost cried..Sorry bro that's Kenya.

[@henryhinga7214]

To sum it all up, Safari rally is anyone's game......It's the rally that balances the drives with the cars, you can't just be a good driver and have a terrible car, the two must intertwine together, that's why Toyota won, the toughest challenge yet, the team did their homework before arriving here.

[@johnrugunya5386]

🏎🇰🇪🇰🇪🔥🔥💥👌

[@carthodblade8438]

But Toyota is what we use from trucks to personal vehicles

[@harrisonmbugua5337]

so bad for team Hyundai that are not able to fight for the podium this year. Late development of the car. keep working. A big fan of Otto Tanak & Thierry Neuville.

[@TalGalCINEMA]

looks like Dakar rally :')

[@donbrashsux]

Ott needs to change teams

[@JacksonHustler]

Safari Rally is the most punishing rally on earth with high tyre punctures & low visibility

[@joabmagara2162]

Baja Rally. Comparable to Paris-Dakar rally when it was around.

[@Tedkelvin]

The 4 cars in front are always a ...

[@Rossiya_Serbs_are_with_you.]

Ukrainian cars?

[@Ellisson82]

They dont use usually Buggys^??^^

[@crespo72285]

Guys, pay a bit more and buy a Toyota rather than a hyundai.

[@geoffreyogaro5727]

Team subaru, what happened. Being whipped by a vitz

[@traceyjohnson3925]

A country that has safari rally since the 70's and still in 2022 no kenyans have become rally drivers? What a shame celebrating zero kenyans...no wonder kenyans need 20 degrees when European need hobbies to be rally champions..sorry when will kenyans implement the sport locally..and not for others to enjoy kenya? 😉