WRC Safari Rally: Neuville emerges top on brutal day one

Thierry Neuville led the survivors of Safari Rally Kenya’s vicious opening leg that destroyed the hopes of virtually half the top-flight drivers on Friday.

The Belgian won three of the six punishing and sandy speed tests on the shores of the Great Rift Valley’s Lake Naivasha to lead Japan’s Takamoto Katsuta by 18.8sec, despite limping through the final test with two punctures and an engine problem.  

Neuville won two of this morning’s three stages in his Hyundai i20 to lead Kalle Rovanperä by 5.1sec. The Finn briefly snatched top spot in the afternoon’s opener, but his hopes were wrecked when his Toyota Yaris became trapped in deep dust in the final Oserian stage.  

The car was towed off the track into retirement, allowing Neuville to open clear air over Katsuta.

“There was a little bit of drama with the punctures but we were able to manage and get back to service. It was a tough day but tomorrow is going to be another tough day. We have learned a lot and we need to introduce that tomorrow to avoid such small problems,” he said.

Katsuta lost time when he stalled his engine, but the Japanese driver soared from fourth to second in the closing stage after Rovanperä’s demise and a puncture for Ott Tänak, which cost the Estonian almost a minute.

Tanäk, in third and trailing Katsuta by 37.0sec, claimed he had driven at no more than 60 per cent pace in his i20 and ‘even that was too much in some places’.

Championship leader Sébastien Ogier was 1min 49.4sec off the lead in fourth after a broken oil canister in his Yaris’ rear suspension slowed his morning progress.

Elfyn Evans, Dani Sordo, Oliver Solberg and Lorenzo Bertelli were all sidelined during the three rugged and sandy speed tests on the southern shore of Lake Naivasha.

Neuville won the tight and twisty Chui Lodge and the blisteringly fast Kedong. Rovanperä spoiled the Belgian’s hopes of a clean sweep by topping the times in Oserian before the survivors returned for well-earned service in Naivasha.

"I didn't feel like I was pushing really hard, I just felt quite comfortable in the car and tried to be as efficient as I could,” explained Neuville, who still had time for an overshoot. “I was driving with quite a high ride height to try and protect the car, but the negative point of that is it’s quite easy to roll,”

Rovanperä was left breathless by the morning’s action. “It’s incredible! I’ve never driven on this type of stage before. There’s so much dust in the car I can’t breathe,” said the Finn, who punctured in Kedong.

Ott Tänak was 26.2sec off the lead in third in another i20. The Estonian’s cautious policy was clear to see: “The only target was not to damage the car,” he said.

Takamoto Katsuta was fourth in a Yaris. He stalled the engine in Chui Lodge and struggled to explain the difficulty of the stages. “It’s quite a….I don’t know, I just can’t find the words for it!” he said.

Ford Fiesta pair Gus Greensmith and Adrien Fourmaux were fifth and sixth, a minute further back. Greensmith broke an anti-roll bar in Kedong but neither were keen to attack as they saw the carnage around them.

Ogier’s Yaris shed an oil canister from the rear suspension of his Yaris in Kedong and he nursed the car through Oserian with no damping. He arrived in service 2min 11.9sec off the lead in seventh.

Second in the championship Evans was the first big gun to exit, 300 metres from the finish of Kedong.

“I was just coming to the end of a fast section, there was a stone that was sticking out more into the road than I had anticipated. Unfortunately, we clipped it with the front right wheel, and it was enough to break the suspension quite badly,” explained the Welshman.

Sordo retired minutes later in the same test when his car oversteered sideways off the stage and ploughed through the vegetation before coming to rest in a ditch. The Spanish crew managed to get their i20 back to the roadside but their efforts were in vain.

Bertelli parked his Ford Fiesta on the road section after Kedong, while Oliver Solberg suffered suspension problems in Chui Lodge and despite working furiously to make repairs, the teenager stopped at the end of Oserian with shattered suspension and a damaged roll cage.

Behind Ogier, WRC3 leader Onker Rai, WRC2 driver Martin Prokop and Daniel Chwist completed the top 10.