The final day of the Safari Rally Kenya began with further drama in the form of heartbreak for the overnight rally leader, Thierry Neuville. Having shown to be the pacesetter for much of the rally; on the opening test of the final day, once again it was game over for a rally leading Hyundai car.
Entering the final day with a significant 57 second lead over Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta; all the Belgian had to do was survive the remaining 5 stages which covered just 48km. Sadly for Neuville, it wasn’t to be as suspension failure robbed him of the victory, just like it had of his teammate Ott Tänak on the previous two events in Portugal and Sardinia.
The second full day of the Safari Rally Kenya, for the majority of, produced far less drama compared to that of the previous action-packed day. With 132km spread over a further 6 stages on the tracks further north around Lake Elmenteita; what promised to be a much tougher day, was instead far more conservative.
Whilst the world on social media was banging on about Zebra Crossings, overnight rally leader Thierry Neuville set about extending his lead by 10 seconds over Takamoto Katsuta on the morning’s loop of stages.
After 19 years, the long-awaited legendary Safari Rally in Kenya returns to the FIA World Rally Championships for round 6 of the 2021 Championships. This iconic rally has been absent since 2002 and although it was hoped to return last year, the global pandemic prevented it; but this weekend the Safari Adventure IS happening and the entire World of rallying is incredibly excited.
First, run way back in 1953 as the East African Safari Rally of Kenya, the Safari Rally of past times is no more, but the modern-day version will most definitely offer up one heck of a challenge for the Worlds best drivers. With stunning landscapes and challenging roads, wildlife is not the only hazard to be aware of.
Round 5 of the 2021 FIA World Rally Championship emerged from the Mediterranean island of Sardinia as an unexpected result for some but a total disaster in contrast for others. The rally produced a number of turning points, with Leg 2 on the Saturday becoming the most eventful.
The Hyundai World Rally Team started off the day (Saturday) in a strong position, Estonian Ott Tänak in the rally lead with his teammate Dani Sordo behind in second. The signs were that the Korean automobile brand was going to continue on in their history of success on the Italian island once again.
The FIA World Rally Championship first visited the stunningly beautiful Mediterranean island of Sardinia back in 2004, where the Subaru Impreza of Petter Solberg battled with the Citreon Xsara of Sebastian Loeb. Petter triumphed to go down in the WRC history books as the first winner of a World Rally on the sun-kissed Italian island.
Whizz forward to 2021 and Petters son Oliver was due to compete for his second outing in a full-blown Hyundai i20 WRC; however, since the last round of the championship in Portugal, Petter had contracted COVID, which has unfortunately forced the young Olivers hands.
After sitting out of the calendar last year due to COVID, Round 4 of the 2021 FIA World Rally Championships, the 54th Vodafone Rally de Portugal not only sees a return for one of the original legendary World Rallies but also sees the return to gravel rallying for the first of four full gravel events this year.
The opening leg of the rally proved a challenging one, with limited numbers of allocated tyres and a total of 122km over 8 stages there was no service, so making it back to the end of day service park in one piece was going to be important.
Making its debut into the FIA World Rally Championship this year and to the top level of rallying is newcomer Rally Croatia (22nd – 25th April). First held back in 1974 as a national rally and then incorporated into the European championship in 1986; from then on the Croatians have enjoyed rallying ever since.
As the sun rose over a picturesque Arctic Circle, the crews faced the main bulk of the rally, with 144km spread over 6 stages (3 stages repeated in two loops). Leg 2 of this second round of the FIA World Rally Championships was the longest of this short 10 stage event but would deliver plenty of moments and drama for some.
Overnight Rally leader, Ott Tänak entered the day with a 16.2 seconds lead over his fellow Hyundai team-mate Craig Breen. Whilst his Championship rival, Sébastien Ogier who battled with his road position on the first two stages of the event on the opening day would continued to struggle.
Following their pre-rally event test where the Hyundai pair of Ott Tänak and Thierry Neuville recently both competed on the Estonian Otepää Winter Rally and won the event with a team 1-2. Tänak and Neuville continued to get to grips with the wintery snow and icy conditions as they set the top two fastest times on the mornings shakedown for the 2nd round of the FIA World Rally Championships, on the outskirts of Rovaniemi, Northern Finland.
It was another early start for the crews who now faced the typical Monte like conditions that we were expecting. The first test of the day was an 18km stage SS9 La Bréole – Selonnet 1, where parts of the stage would feel familiar from previous years. From the start, it climbed up to its highest point at about 5km in with a decent amount of snow and ice throughout; but it was at the end of the stage which was particularly bad; so it was a full set of studded winter tyres all around. The road order had now been reversed for today so perhaps offered up a bit of shake-up for the road conditions.
