Safari Rally: Rovanperä throws down gauntlet in Ndulele Shakedown
Finland’s Kalle Rovanpera navigated by Jonne Halttunen racing on a Toyota Yaris race at Loldia stage during shakedown of WRC Safari Rally at Naivasha on March 27, 2024.
What you need to know:
- Africa champion Karan Patel (Skoda Fabia) stood his ground against the 21 elites in the starting line-up by finishing 15th overall
- Rovanpera, who is doing a limited programme this year remained cautious in the round first pass, posting 3 minutes 36.8 seconds which was won by Tanak in a Hyundai i20 Hybrid Rally1 in 3:36.0
- The battle for top honours in the WRC2 category zeroed in between Gus Greensmith and Solberg in identical Skoda Fabias
Driving a Toyota Yaris GR Hybrid R1 car, Kalle Rovanperä of Finland made his intentions of reclaiming his 2022 WRC Safari Rally title known with a slim two-tenth of a second victory over World Rally Championships points leader Thierry Neuville in a Hyundai i20 Hybrid R1 at the 5.40km Ndulele Conservancy Shakedown stage on Wednesday.
Africa champion Karan Patel (Skoda Fabia) stood his ground against the 21 elites in the starting line-up by finishing 15th overall followed by multiple Safari champion Carl Tundo (Ford Fiesta), 18th and Samman Vohra 20th who took part in Wednesday’s test.
Rovanpera was sluggish by his standards in the first of three time trials after being beaten by Estonia Ott Tänak (Hyundai i20 Hybrid R1) by 0.9secs before clocking the fastest time on his second and penultimate pass to secure victory over Neuville’s Hyundai i20 N.
Esapekka Lappi, driving another Hyundai, ended 0.1s further back in third.
Rovanpera, who is doing a limited programme this year remained cautious in the round first pass, posting 3 minutes 36.8 seconds which was won by Tanak in a Hyundai i20 Hybrid Rally1 in 3:36.0.
He then moved to the lead with a 3:32.1 with his unique driving style which left hundreds of fans, mostly Ugandans on their feet.
The slim margin underlies the close battle ahead in the next four days when rally proper zooms off outside the KICC and heads to the 4.2km Kasarani Super Special Stage on Thursday afternoon.
An unexpected hot, sunny morning turned the bone-dry, dusty road, meandering through thick vegetation into a challenging circuit which scraped Rally 2 top contender Oliver Solberg whose Skoda Fabia Rally 2 escaped with a broken front bumper.
The overnight downpour did not matter on the hilly stage overlooking Malewa Bay of Lake Naivasha.
This sets the stage for a bruising face-off between Rovanpera and Neuville who is leading the 2024 championship with 48 points following his victory in Monte Carlo in January after a fourth place finish in Sweden last month.
Rovanpera, who won the 2022 Safari enroute to becoming the youngest world champion at 22, returns to Kenya to recover lost ground of reputation after crashing out in WRC Sweden while on the lead on day one to finish eighth overall as he watched compatriot Esapekka Lappi win for Hyundai three days later.
“This is a rally where you normally don't expect too much before the weekend because you never know what's going to happen,” said Rovanperä who later mingled with fans at the Toyota’s local franchise Cfao Motors powered by Toyota Kenya’s showroom in Mombasa Road.
“That's my plan at the moment. I don't want to expect anything too much, I just want to have a good rally and we will see what happens.”
The Toyota star sits three points adrift of championship leader Neuville coming into this round, while M-Sport Ford hotshot Adrien Fourmaux recorded the sixth-best time in his Puma.
Behind him were Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota Yaris GR Hybrid R1), and Safari debutant Grégoire Munster in a Ford Puma Hybrid R1.
The battle for top honours in the WRC2 category zeroed in between Gus Greensmith and Solberg in identical Skoda Fabias. Greensmith was the fastest of the day after pipping Solberg by 1.2s after overshooting a junction, riding up an embankment and damaging the front of the car which was fixed at service.
Nicholas Ciamin was forced to pull over with damaged front suspension on his Hyundai i20 N Rally2.
Shakedown Results WRC category
1.Kalle Rovanperä/Jonne Halttunen, Toyota GR Yaris Rally1, 3:32.1
2.Neuville Thierry /Martijn Wydaeghe , Hyundai i20 N Rally1, 3:32.1
3.Lappi Esapekka/Janne Ferm, Hyundai i20 N Rally1, 3:32.4
4.Elfyn Evans /Martin Scott, Toyota GR Yaris Rally1, 3:33.1
5.Ott Tänak Ott/ Martin Järveoja, Hyundai i20 N Rally1, 3:33.7
6.Adrien Fourmaux /Coria Alexandre, Ford Puma Rally1, 3:35.8
7.Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston, Toyota GR Yaris Rally1, 3:36.0
8.Grégoire Munster /Loius Louka Louis. Ford Puma Rally1, 3:40.8
9.Gus Greensmith/ Jonas Andersson Jonas, Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, 3:45.6
10.Oliver Solberg /E Edmondson, Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, 3:46.8
11.K. Kajetanowicz/M. Szczepaniak, Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, 3:49.8
12.Jourdan Serderidis/F.Miclotte, Ford Puma Rally1, 3:49.8
13.Diego Jr Domínguez/ R. Peñate, Citroën C3 Rally2, 3:58.4
14.Nicholas Ciamin Nicolas/Yannick Roche, Hyundai i20 N Rally2, 4:04.9
15.Karan Patel/Tauseef Khan, Škoda Fabia R5, 4:06.5
16.Charles Munster Charles/Loic Dumont, Hyundai i20 N Rally2 , 4:06.8
17.Daniel Chwist/Kamil Heller Kamil, Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, 4:09.9
18.Carl Tundo Carl/TimJessop, Ford Fiesta R5, 4:13.3
19.Miguel Díaz-Aboitiz/ D. Sanjuan , Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo, 4:30.5
20.Samman Singh Vohra/ Alfir Khan, Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo, 4:32.2
21.George Vassilakis/ Tom Krawszik, Ford Fiesta Rally2, 4:43.8
