Thierry Neuville Leads Day 1 of Safari Rally in Kenya

The Kenya Safari Rally, known for its extreme demands within the World Rally Championship, has started with championship leader Thierry Neuville setting the pace. Neuville, driving for Hyundai, achieved a narrow lead over his teammate, Ott Tanak, in an exciting first stage.

The event kicked off in Nairobi, with the Kasarani super special, a 4.84km track that offered a head-to-head between competitors. Neuville, with a precise performance, managed to surpass Tanak by a minimal difference of 0.1 seconds. Moreover, his performance was significantly better than his Toyota rival, Elfyn Evans, establishing a time 1.7 seconds faster.

Hyundai chose to tackle the stage without a snorkel device, unlike Toyota and M-Sport Ford, which installed new intake systems. Fortunately, the dry conditions mitigated the risks of this choice, except for some artificially created water splashes.

The close competition was also reflected in the performance of Tanak, who beat Adrien Fourmaux from M-Sport by 2.1 seconds. Tanak, aware of the challenges presented by the Safari Rally, expressed his desire to avoid problems, emphasizing the need for good fortune, especially with the weather.

Kalle Rovanpera from Toyota also stood out, positioning himself as the best of his team and third overall, just 0.8 seconds behind Neuville. Despite his youth and being in his second participation of the campaign, Rovanpera demonstrated skill and composure, beating Gregoire Munster from M-Sport in their direct confrontation.

Rovanpera's teammate, Takamoto Katsuta, achieved fourth place, closely followed by Hyundai's Esapekka Lappi and Evans. In the Rally2 category, Gus Greensmith, starting his 2024 season, set the best time, ahead of Oliver Solberg.

A significant incident was the rollover of local driver Samman Singh Vohra, which fortunately did not result in injuries for him or his co-driver, though it did cause cosmetic damage to his vehicle.
The rally now moves northwest of Nairobi, towards Lake Naivasha, where six stages will take place on Friday.