Record eight-time world champion Sebastien Ogier placed himself among the favorites to win the 2023 World Rally Championship (WRC) Safari Rally in Kenya when he
The drivers tackled seven stages in Naivasha, 90km northwest of capital Nairobi. Ogier, who won this event in 2021 when it returned to the WRC circuit, made a huge statement of intent in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 machine.
The Frenchman recovered from a minor setback in the morning exchanges to power to a cumulative time of 1:14:38.7 to open up a 22.8-second lead over Safari titleholder and Toyota teammate Kalle Rovanpera (1:15:01.5), who is also the reigning world rally champion.
"So far, so good! It's good to be in the lead even if it's only a small step done. We know we have a long day tomorrow and very tough conditions to go through. Let's keep focused!" the overnight leader posted on Twitter later on Friday.
Welshman Elfyn Evans (1:15:22.2) rounded off the GR Yaris top three, ahead of Safari debutant Esapekka Lappi (1:15:32.7), who brought his Hyundai i20 Rally1 car in fourth to break the Toyota stranglehold as action swept through the Rift Valley plains.
Japanese ace Takamoto Katsuta, who rolled his car during Wednesday's shakedown in Naivasha, rounded off the top five in yet another GR Yaris Rally1 to put Toyota in a good position to repeat their top sweep from last year.
From the off, a hybrid unit fault hindered Ogier late in the morning, but he roared back to cut the deficit over Kalle Rovanpera to just 2.5 seconds before the midday service in Naivasha.
However, in the repeated afternoon loop, the Frenchman attacked to win three stages in a row after choosing to reduce the weight of his car by only carrying one spare wheel.
Rovanpera kept it steady to hold on to second despite the double-digit deficit he had to overhaul his main rival on Saturday and Sunday.
The Finn, who leads the WRC standings coming to the seventh round of the 2023 season in Kenya, was hampered by understeer issues in the second half of Friday.
Thierry Neuville had been Hyundai's leading light for much of the day, but retired in the penultimate test when a heavy compression destroyed the front-left suspension on his i20 N. The Belgian, who lies second on the WRC standings, has now been forced to retire from his second Safari in a row.
Behind the front runners, sixth-placed Hyundai driver Dani Sordo is just nine seconds behind Katsuta despite clipping a tree branch and tyre damage.
It was a day to forget for M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 drivers Ott Tanak and Pierre-Louis Loubet as they finished seventh and eighth overall respectively.
Estonian Tanak, who opened his Safari by taking the overnight lead on Thursday, was forced to change his tyre mid stage, the same fate that befell his Puma teammate Loubet from France.
Saturday sees the event continue in stages around Naivasha's Lake Elementaita with the monster 150.88km route, the longest of the event.
