Toyota charge: Ogier opens up slim lead over champ Rovanpera

Sebastien Ogier, co-driven by Vincent Landais, was cautious in Day Two’s morning pass through twisty, hilly Loldia to the top before a deep drop, sweeping through lovely corners of the Geothermal stage - between active geothermal wells - before levelling in the notorious fesh fesh-prone Kedong run.

He could only manage a 2.5-second, blink-of-an-eye advantage over Toyota teammate, Safari defending champion Kalle Rovanpera, in an identical Toyota Yaris GR Hybrid super machine.

Probably Landais mastered his pace notes because the afternoon re-run was a different ball game when the eight-times world champion Frenchman threw caution to the wind and produced a flawless masterful drive to beat Rovanpera by a massive 22.8 seconds at the end of the day with a cumulative time of one hours 14.38.7 seconds in the rough, 125.82-kilometre section that was a graveyard of sorts.

“It's been a good day. Except for the Hybrid issue this morning we had a perfect day, so we can be happy," said Ogier, victorious here two years ago.

An overnight drizzle had miraculously damped the road surface, and organisers avoided the fesh fesh sections but still the roads were standard Kenyan, rough and with unseen rocks or very soft patches.

Rovanpera's teammate Elyn Evans remained vigil but within striking distance 43.5 seconds behind Ogier to give Toyota a satisfying Day Two, 1-2-3 finish, hoping their luck, consistency and cars' reliability holds on Saturday in the 150.88km Soysambu, Elementaita and Sleeping Warrior stages.

"I think it was more of a bush than a tree, which we can probably be happy about! I got crossed up in these tricky ruts and didn't manage to catch it in time," said Evans after an excursion in the bush briefly but never lost his momentum.

Finnish sensation Rovanepera was visibly not happy with the stages but remained philosophical.

"It was quite okay. Quite soft in places with really big holes and stones and stuff, proper Safari-spec. A lot of surprises, and it's a high-speed stage so not easy," said Rovanpera, son of Harri who finished second in the 1998 Safari Rally in a Peugeot 205.

Kalle is navigated by compatriot Jonne Halttunen.

Thierry Neuville had been Hyundai’s leading light for much of the day but the Belgian retired in the penultimate test when a heavy compression destroyed the front-left suspension on his i20 N.

Safari debutant Esapekka Lappi, driving a similar car, inherited the position and trailed Evans by 10.5 seconds at close of play, passing Takamoto Katsuta in the process.

Kenyans Carl Tundo and Tim Jessop were also on a learning curve run in the morning before syncing with the Skoda Fabia in the afternoon by moving from 16th to 13th determined to smell the coffee of the inside top 10  on Saturday.

He was over 14 minutes behind Ogier but fourth in Rally 2 category.

All was not well behind the lucky Toyotas.

The 2019 world champion Ott Tanak, navigated by Martin Jarveoja had a rough day to finish seventh overall in a Ford Puma.

"We were not even cautious, that's just our speed. It was a clean one, for sure quite rough with some surprises in places. I don't feel really comfortable to go any faster."

FIA Rally Star programme driver Hamza Anwar was 18th and first in the Rally 3 category in a Ford Fiesta Rally 3.