His lead cut by half to one second, Swede Oliver Solberg has vowed to go flat out on the penultimate day of the World Rally Championship (WRC) Safari Rally today in Naivasha, Nakuru County.
Solberg, co-driven by Elliott Edmondson in a Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team (WRT), acknowledged that being too cautious in Loldia, Geothermal and Kedong stages of the competition yesterday left him vulnerable to his opponents, among them reigning world champion Sebastien Ogier of France.
“It was a shame to lose 30 seconds. For sure, the lead being cut by a half isn’t good and we are back to zero. We must start flat-out tomorrow,” Solberg, 24, said. He is eyeing a maiden Safari Rally victory on his sixth appearance.
“I have been trying to be really clean all day, not pushing, trying to be at same pace with Evans but Ogier has been on the big push and risk,” Solberg explained, adding that half of his time was consumed by being careful and the other by a puncture in the last stage of the day.
Toyota Gazoo Racing team Sébastien Ogier with co-driver Vincent Landa tackle Kedong stage in Naivasha on March 13, 2026 during day-two of WRC Safari Rally.
Photo credit: Boniface Mwangi | Nation
“The rocks were tough on the tyres but tomorrow is hard for anything else,” Solberg who won the opening leg of WRC Rallye Monte Carlo in January, said.
Ogier, the 2021 and 2023 WRC Safari Rally champion, who won stage two at Mzabibu, yesterday triumphed in SS4 Loldia, SS7 Kedong 2, and SS9 Kedong 2. He slashed Solberg’s lead to just a second.
Solberg, who has an accumulative time of one hour, 12 minutes and 25. 3 seconds and Ogier, navigated by Vincent Landais on 1:12.26.3, look poised to give Toyota Gazoo Racing team its sixth Safari Rally victory, as they occupy the first four slots in the competition
Defending champion Elfyn Evans from Britain, who was second at the start of the day, dropped one place to third and is 19.2 seconds off the pace.
Finn Sami Pajari rebounded from a near-roll on SS4 to win both SS5 Geothermal and SS6 Kedong stages to scale to fourth place.
Oliver Solberg and co-driver Elliot Edmonson racing in a Toyota Yaris race through the Geothermal stage during the WRC Safari Rally Kenya on March 13, 2026.
Photo credit: Sila Kiplagat | Nation
Two-time Africa champion Kiran Patel, navigated by Tauseef Khan in Skoda Fabia car, were the best placed local crew at 14th place overall, some 15:04.6 minutes off the pace.
Other Kenyan drivers, Aakif Virani/Zahir Shah (Skoda Fabia), Jasmeet Channa/ Ravinder Channa (Ford Fiesta) and Samman Vohra/Drew Sturrock (Skoda Fabia) were placed 18th, 21st and 22nd respectively at the close of the day.
The Kenyan drivers are in the WRC2 category, where Robert Virves from Estonia leads. Virves is ninth overall.
“What a battle! You will definitely be happy starting the day with a minute’s deficit but end up with only a second. It’s now positive,” said Ogier. He hops for an equally enthralling ride today and tomorrow, as he makes his return to WRC Safari Rally after two years of absence
“Tomorrow (Saturday) will be big, with a demanding and rough section to go through. That is the moment where gaps can still be made,” Ogier, 42, said.
“It is actually better to not be in the lead tonight because we know on Saturday it always starts raining in the afternoon and most of the time the rear guys suffer the most,” he added.
Vendors hawk flags and other merchandise as they target rally fans in Kedong, Naivasha, on March 13, 2026, during day two of the WRC Safari Rally.
Photo credit: Boniface Mwangi | Nation
Overnight rains forced the cancellation of SS3 Camp Moran stage after deep rutting left it inaccessible to medical and safety vehicles. Crews instead began the loop on the 18.95km Loldia stage, where conditions remained unpredictable.
Solberg briefly lost ground when he ran wide into the bushes on a right-hander, losing around 10 seconds, but the Swede settled into a measured rhythm across the remaining stages to return to the Naivasha service park with a 28.8sec lead.
Toyota held firmly the top five places at midday, with championship leader Evans holding second despite battling brake issues early in the loop but it’s Takamoto Katsuta, who curved in to drop to seventh as Thierry Nuveille of Hyundai went fifth.
Today, crews will cover 122.98km of the competitive stage will open in SS11 Soysambu 1 before the cars proceed to SS12 Elementaita, onto SS13 Sleeping Warrior 1, before heading back to the service park located in Naivasha.
