(Reuters) – Toyota go into the last day of the Safari Rally set to sweep the top four places and with Sebastien Ogier and Kalle Rovanpera fighting for victory after the weather played its hand on Saturday.
Ogier had been 32 seconds clear of the reigning world champion and 2022 winner after the day’s penultimate stage but a sudden rainstorm slashed the Frenchman’s advantage to 16.7 seconds after the closing ‘Sleeping Warrior’ run.
The rain turned the dry roads to slippery mud with 39-year-old Ogier the last top driver on the stage and facing the worst of the conditions in the toughest event on the calendar.
The eight-times world champion, now competing part-time and therefore not a real title threat to championship leader Rovanpera, picked up two slow punctures along the way.
“Even on the straights, second gear was quite high-speed,” said the 22-year-old Rovanpera, who won three of Saturday’s six stages and has six more on Sunday to overtake his team mate.
“We are here in one piece and that was the only goal for today.”
Welshman Elfyn Evans was in third place, two minutes and 23 seconds off the lead, with team mate Takamoto Katsuta close behind.
Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi, who had been third until stage 12, retired with a suspected propshaft failure.
His Belgian team mate and Rovanpera’s closest title rival Thierry Neuville retired on Friday, returning on Saturday and ending the day ninth, with Spaniard Dani Sordo the highest Hyundai driver in fifth place.
Toyota have won 11 of the 13 stages so far and all of Saturday’s six.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Clare Fallon)
