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Elfyn Evans was on fire as Toyota fought back to claim two top spots on Day 2 of the third leg of the World Rally Championship (WRC), the Safari Rally in Naivasha.
Evans clocked 2:00:45.4 to open a 7.7-second lead at the apex where he eclipsed Day 1 leader, Estonian and Hyundai superman Ott Tanak. His teammate and Safari Rally defending champion Kalle Rovanpera (2:00:53.1) ended the day second as Tanak settled for third in 2:01:40.8.
World champion, Thierry Neuville of Hyundai strived to move from eighth to fourth, reviving his hope for a first-ever podium finish on Kenyan soil.
Carl Tundo was the best-placed Kenyan driver at 16th and the multiple national champion is praying for the heavens to open up on today as he does well on very slippery surfaces.
The drivers tackled eight stages on a challenging day including Camp Moran (31.4km), Loldia (19.11km), Kengen Geothermal (13.18km) and Kedong (15.10km) whose loops were repeated in the afternoon.
The day was characterized by various mechanical breakdowns that frustrated so many drivers, especially Tanak whose dream to keep his top spot on the leaderboard intact was smoked out.
The 2019 world champion lost grip on the eighth stage (Lodia 2), where he had oil problems with his engine.
Tanak’s woes continued at the Kengen Geothermal 2 where he suffered mechanical problems which forced him to move slowly, losing time which dropped him to third.
Tanak had hoped to claw back the lead in the final round at stage 10 (Kedong 2) but he suffered a similar fate to end the day a very frustrated man.
Commenting on his top spot ahead of the Saturday showpiece that will traverse Sleeping Warrior (26.97km), Elmenteita (17.31km) and Soysambu (28.97km) Evans stated:
“We are happy to be in the driving seat, we now need to keep the rhythm on this lead, we know we still have a long way to go so we are holding on and avoiding imminent mistakes.”
Rovanpera, who won three stages of the day, noted that the morning runs did not favour him so he had to step up and salvage the Toyota ship in the noon.
It was a very brutal day for most drivers who suffered broken suspensions and driveshaft problems on the punishing Naivasha landscape.
At Camp Moran, Kenya’s Aakif Virani failed to start after failing his scrutineering test. The stage proved cumbersome for Neuville, Jourdan Serderidis, Gus Greensmith, Pulligilla Naveen and Hamza Anwar who were slapped with various penalties.
Takamoto Katsuta of Toyota also suffered a puncture as well while George Vasilakis had mechanical gremlins.
Toyota’s Sami Pajari, who had a broken window on the opening day also suffered a similar fate at the location.
At Camp Moran 2, run in the afternoon, Oliver Solberg got completely stuck in the sand and this derailed his effort to compensate for the time lost.
Josh McErlean had a problem with his exhaust, forcing him to stop for the repair after the whole vehicle was engulfed in smoke.
Adrien Fourmaux had a double tragedy as he broke his right suspension and suffered a puncture. Neuville too had little damage on the front of his car.
WRC Safari Rally Day 2 Selected Results
Elfyn Evans (Toyota) 2:00:45.4
Kalle Rovanpera (Toyota) 2:00:53.1
Ott Tanak (Hyundai) 2:01:40.8
Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) 2:02:16.8
Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota) 2:04:11.8
Sami Pajari (Toyota) 2:05:04.5
Joshua McErlean (Ford Puma) 2:06:20.8
Kajetan Kajetanowicz (Toyota) 2:06:39.2
Gus Greensmith (Skoda Fabia) 2:06:49.4
Jan Solans (Toyota) 2:07:19.5
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