World Rally Championship got underway again on Saturday, June 24, 2023, with Carl Tundo and Tim Jessop being the top Kenyan drivers at the penultimate stage.

However, Tundo and Jessop are in the 15th position on the list, which is led by Sebastien Ogier in a Toyota car.

Ogier maintained control over the Safari Rally Kenya even though he had to overcome a challenge when his vehicle’s tire got damaged on Saturday.

Challenges

The road also presented a new challenge for the drivers after a heavy downpour in the early hours of the morning. The rain reduced some sections of the special stages near Lake Elmenteita to mud, catching out some of the FIA World Rally Championship’s leading lights at the penultimate stage.

However, Ogier – eight-time world champion, got to the benchmark time in the opening Soysambu test as he outpaced his closest rival, Kalle Rovanpera, who is second-placed by 7.6sec.

Ogier, who gave away some seconds to Rovanpera, reached the respite of service still carrying a 22.1-second advantage, only seven-tenths of a second worse off than when he started the day.

“Some sections were very slippery, and I was very cautious, to be honest. On the last section [of Sleeping Warrior] with the stones, it’s so easy to damage something,” Ogier told the World Rally Championship website.

Rovanpera emerged as the winner of the morning’s three-speed tests, led the championship coming into this seventh round, and is on course to strengthen his points lead.

“I think we could push a bit more, but for sure, Seb is pushing a lot for this win. In our case, we need to think about the championship also, because the guys in the championship fight are much more behind us and the good points are coming,” Rovanpera said.

Elfyn Evans faced a challenge in the dramatic race as he was halted toward the end of Soysambu. Consequently, he slipped to fourth overall behind Hyundai’s flying Esapekka Lappi. Evans’ challenges were made worse by a slow rear puncture in the final stage.

After facing those challenges, he is 49.7 seconds behind Lappi going into the repeated afternoon loop.

Evans colleague Takamoto Katsuta, who narrowed the gap with the i20 N of sixth-placed Dani Sordo, is just 5.5 seconds in arrears.

Ott Tanak and Pierre-Louis Loubet of M-Sport Ford hold seventh and eighth paces, respectively. The two are both recovering from disappointing Fridays. Loubet ran wide in the mud and dropped time, having to reverse.

Meanwhile, Thierry Neuville also spun, even though he retired with suspension damage on Friday. Gregoire Munster remains in the lead in WRC2 and is under immense pressure from Kajetan Kajetanowicz. Kajetanowicz rounds out the top 10, driving a Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo.

Apart from the heavy downpour, the contestants had to face other challenges that included big rocks, long grass, and water splashes, especially at the Sleeping Warrior section.

Nikhil Sachania reported no serious problems and his Mitsubishi Lancer looked clean. Sachania is the sole handicapped driver in the championship.

Fines

Karan Patel and Tauseef Khan were fined £1000 for failing to obey the rules. The two did not display the ‘OK’ sign within one minute of stopping at the Kedong Stage. They had to stop because of a puncture. Patel and Khan are viewed as FIA Priority Two drivers and were informed of their offense by the stewards and will have to pay the fine within 48 hours of the steward’s Report.

The 2023 FIA WRC Sporting Regulations have laid down the procedures that the crew must follow in case of a stoppage of their car on a Special Stage, whether temporarily or permanently.

Consequently, the crew must acknowledge the status of the stoppage within one minute of being prompted to do so on the FIA Tracking System, and a failure to do so will attract a fine.