Kalle Rovanpera leads in the Safari Rally Kenya tests, showcasing his dominance in the early stages. The reigning WRC champion set a time that was only two tenths of a second faster than his Belgian rival Thierry Neuville.
Rovanpera is determined to prove himself after his disappointing exit from the Rally Sweden last month while leading the race. Returning to gravel for the first time this season, he quickly found his rhythm in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1.
Initially, Rovanpera was 0.9 seconds slower than Ott Tänak after the first pass of the Loldia stage. However, he managed to secure the fastest time on his second pass, putting him at the top of the leaderboard ahead of Neuville’s Hyundai i20 N. Esapekka Lappi, driving another Hyundai, finished just 0.1 seconds behind in third place.
Rovanpera acknowledges the unpredictable nature of the Safari Rally and maintains a cautious approach. He does not want to have high expectations and simply aims to have a good rally without putting too much pressure on himself.
Tänak, who is currently three points behind championship leader Neuville, ended up behind his teammate Lappi by 1.3 seconds and finished in fifth place. Elfyn Evans took the fourth position, while M-Sport Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux recorded the sixth best time in his Puma. Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta and Safari debutant Grégoire Munster followed behind.
In the WRC2 category, Gus Greensmith outpaced his Toksport teammate, Oliver Solberg, by 1.2 seconds. However, both Solberg and Nicolas Ciamin faced difficulties at the start of the session. Solberg managed to escape with only cosmetic damage to the front of his Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 after overshooting a junction and climbing a bank. On the other hand, Ciamin had to stop due to damage to the front suspension of his Hyundai i20 N Rally2.
