Katsuta leads Fourmaux after Stage 16 cancellation

Takamoto Katsuta opened up a Safari Rally Kenya lead of more than a minute ahead of the final day after emerging from a brutal Saturday that ended with organisers cancelling the final stage.

Katsuta, searching for a maiden World Rally win, survived the toughest day of the season to date with a 1m25.5s lead over Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux after navigating treacherous muddy conditions. Katsuta vaulted to the lead of the rally when drama struck Toyota team-mates Oliver Solberg, Sébastien Ogier, Elfyn Evans and Sami Pajari during the morning loop.

Starting the day in seventh position, Katsuta gained a position in the opening stage of the day, before moving into fifth when Pajari suffered a right rear tyre explosion in stage 12. The test drew the ire of crews, including Katsuta, who were angry about changes being made to sections of the stage to discourage corner cutting. Katsuta, Evans, Solberg and Pajari all picked up double punctures.

Without the luxury of any spare wheels, Katsuta backed off in stage 13 but was able to climb to third after Hyundai’s Fourmaux, who picked up a front right puncture, had to nurse his overheating i20 N to the finish.

Evans was next to hit trouble when the right rear suspension on his GR Yaris collapsed. The damage was initially inflicted by an impact with a rock that caused a double puncture in stage 12. This elevated Katsuta to third behind rally leader Solberg, who had built up a 42.6s advantage over Ogier, who had lost two minutes to a puncture in the first stage of the day.

However, by the time Katsuta reached the midday service his third position had been upgraded to the rally lead when Solberg and Ogier retired on the road section. Solberg suffered a broken alternator and clutch issue, while Ogier’s problem was purely down to a broken alternator, likely caused by mud coming into the car.

Esapekka Lappi, Enni Malkonen, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1

Photo by: Hyundai

Katsuta started the afternoon loop with a 1m07.5s lead over Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville, but the latter’s charge soon came to an end in stage 14. Neuville stopped once to change a double puncture but then suffered a driveshaft failure and was unable to continue. The retirement arrived after Neuville had successfully managed to nurse an overheating car through the morning loop.

“It was a sequence of problems aligning through the stage. First of all we had an impact on the front left on a fast section and I felt that something wasn’t 100% right on the car but still I was able to carry on. A couple of kilometres later we got a double puncture and we stopped immediately to change it and carried on. Then the driveshaft snapped and it broke the upright and then it was finished,” said Neuville.

That left Katsuta to fend off Fourmaux, who moved into second position after taking Hyundai’s first stage win of the rally.

‘Very stressful’ conditions

Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1

Photo by: Hyundai

Fourmaux was unable to make any inroads on his Toyota rival in stage 15, and in fact lost 18s to his rival. 

“I really was looking after the car. It was a very good team effort in service. We need to get a good result. It is quite a lot if I want to push [to catch Taka]. We have had three days racing on the car, so we need to take care of them,” said Fourmaux.

That brought an end to the day’s action as organisers cancelled Stage 16. An afternoon rain shower in the area around the Sleeping Warrior stage had made the road conditions too severe for rescue vehicles to access.

“Honestly, it’s much easier when you are fighting flat out everywhere. It’s very stressful, I am just trying to avoid every single rock, even the very small ones,” said Katsuta.

Jon Armstrong, Shane Byrne, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team Ford Puma Rally1

Photo by: M-Sport

Pajari claimed what turned out to be the final stage of the day with a fastest time on stage 15 that was enough to move into third position [+5m29.1s], ahead of Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi, who was purely focussed on surviving the stages. 

“I just try to finish, I don’t care about the result. It doesn’t make any sense to me to fight,” said Lappi.

Robert Virves led the WRC2 class in fifth overall, 55.3s in front of Gus Greensmith.

M-Sport-Ford duo Jon Armstrong and Josh McErlean managed to nurse wounded Ford Pumas to the end of the day in 15th and 16th positions.

Four more stages await the crews on Sunday.

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– The Autosport.com Team