NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 24 – Despite dominating the opening day of the WRC Safari Rally at the Kasarani Super Special Stage, World champion Sebastian Ogier says real work now awaits him Friday when the rally heads to proper competitive stages in Chui Lodge, Kedong and Oserian.
With the FIA World Rally Championship returning to Kenya and Africa for the first time in 19 years, the series leader, Ogier was 0.3sec faster than Toyota Yaris team-mate Kalle Rovanperä in the curtain-raising 4.84km Super Special Kasarani on the edge of the capital.
Elfyn Evans completed a Toyota Gazoo Racing clean sweep of the top three, the Welshman a further 0.4sec back.
“It was quite dusty out there, I was stuck in the dust but it was an appetizer for what we will get over the weekend, then real rally starts tomorrow and that is what we are looking forward to. As a team we need to take strong points this weekend, I want to make some ground this weekend unfortunately we don’t know what the weekend holds in for us. It is such a demanding event so lets cross our fingers and hope for the best,” Ogier said.
Ogier and Ott Tänak went head-to-head in the final frontline heat around the sweeping curves and jumps of the purpose-built track in front of an excited large crowd. Kicking up huge plumes of dust, Ogier beat the Hyundai i20 driver by 2.5sec.
Rovanperä, whose father, Harri, twice finished second on the gruelling Safari, was a clear winner over Hyundai’s Dani Sordo. Evans came out on top against Thierry Neuville, who conceded a few seconds after running his i20 wide.
Tänak’s pace was good enough to secure fourth, with Neuville 5.0sec off the pace in fifth and Takamoto Katsuta completing the top six. The Japanese driver was a further 0.6sec back, despite a briefly stalling his Yaris’ engine.
The stage followed a colourful opening ceremony in central Nairobi, with competitors flagged away by Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta and the cabinet secretary for sports, culture and heritage, Amina Mohamed.
-Additional reporting from WRC-
