The first ring of the stage on Friday has already brought its twists and turns to rally Kenya. Especially the last special, Kedang, 31.25 km, the longest rally of the rally, is as difficult for drivers as it is for mechanics. She showed no mercy to Sebastien Lope. In the rhythm so far, the M-Sport Ford driver gave up first to Colley Rowanpera, who wrote his second scratch time in thirty seconds. The Frenchman “lost” himself on his own soil in the center of a very sandy area.

“I do not know where to go. I had to wait until the dust settles before leaving again.”, Explained the winner of the morning special. Worse, the nine-time world champion remained immobile after the arrival of Sector last time. There was a small fire at the level of the machine, after which he had only electricity, not enough to return to the next group … a twist of fate similar to abandonment.

“After a few meters, we stopped putting on the helmets. The engine stopped automatically. Attempting to restart was unsuccessful. Something was burning behind the engine.”He explained to the dirtfish site that he was next to his immovable puma.

This is the second time in a row that he has been forced to retire on Friday morning at a WRC rally after Portugal (off the road).

Rowanbere is the big winner of the morning

In this fourth special, O’Groats gave up the Rally lead 20 minutes after losing to Rowanpera. The Toyota driver announced that he had an electrical problem due to sand in the air filters. After all, he ranks second in the general rankings behind his teammate Elphin Evans (+8”5).

The big winner this morning was Rowan Perei. The championship leader, who opened the way, advanced to third place (+ 11”1) with only five places in Kedang. If he did not know the mistake he made on the super-stage on Thursday, he would be the leader.

Hyundai drivers did not escape

Gus Greensmith had a dream in the final round. Fourth, Britain, an M-Sport, missed every opportunity to perform better by exploding the right rear tire, which caught fire in its Ford Puma. He was able to repair and start again, but lost almost a quarter of an hour. Problems for Hyundai: Ott Danak (7th) broke his gear lever in the first lap, while Thierry Newville and Oliver Solberg were last inactive without any mechanical power. They are pushed one minute and three minutes behind the leader, respectively.

The author of a clean race so far, Adrian Formax (Ford Puma) is in eighth place (+ 31”9). Fourth (+ 15”2, he was on stage last year), while Craig Breen was sixth, look at Takamoto Katsuda’s brilliant play.

Finally, since many pilots have complained about Kedang’s conditions, the possibility of canceling or modifying the second paragraph in this section cannot be ruled out. “I don’t know if we can go to the 2nd ring, Lope, before retiring, had mentioned a small sandy expanse. It was already the limit to be planted for me. ⁇ Rowanbere, too, wondered how to get back on track, without completely destroying a track.