Ogier steers Toyota's 1-2-3 lead on Day Two

Sebastien Ogier from France cruises through the Loldia Shakedown stage during the WRC Safari Rally Kenya. [Stafford Ondego, Standard] Eight time world champion Sebastien Ogier led Toyota Gazoo Racing to a 1-2-3 finish on Day Two of the World Rally Championship (WRC), the Safari Rally in Naivasha on Friday. Ogier posted overall leads in all the six stages contested (Loldia1, Loldia 2, Geothermal 1, Geothermal 2, Kedong 1, Kedong 2) to end the day at the top in 1:14:38.7. The former Safari Rally champion opened a 22.8 seconds gap between him and team-mate Kalle Rovanpera as Elfyn Evans, also of Toyota, finished third in 1:15:22.2. "I tried to drive very clean and now I can say it was the right choice," Ogier said. The drivers found the going tough in the 30.62km fesh fesh filled Kedong. Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota) was the heaviest casualty in the dust filled section, suffering two punctures and a broken steering wheel. He also hit a Zebra in the 19.17 km Loldia stretch. "I'm not happy, I had a big damage at the front and had to repair before the stage. But I'm glad I'm still here in the race," Katsuta underlined. Other casualties of the day at Kedong were Esapekka Lappi and Ott Tanak, both of Hyundai, who battled frustrating punctures, Oliver Solberg (Skoda Fabia) who had a broken suspension, and Pierre-Louis Loubet (Ford Puma) who was forced to change his unfit tyres. "I don't know what happened. Suddenly, the wheel went empty and that's it, like 13km before the finish," Lappi explained. Evans maneuvered his way to avoid protruding large rocks at Kedong, a tactic he said gave him a lifeline in the ongoing battle in Naivasha. "There was a bit of bad dust at the end there, but that wasn't the timeloss. I had to avoid big stones being pulled out, I felt so soft in some places. I wasn't taking enough risks," Evans said. While highlighting his frustration at Kedong, former world champion Tanak stated: "It (puncture) just came off the rim quite early in the ruts. Simple. "We also had some engine troubles, we didn't get power any more." While others were ruing their bad luck in the tough section, Rovanpera seemed to be the only driver who knew how to out-maneuver the knee high fesh fesh in Kedong as his Toyota Yaris Rally 1 car had a 'smooth' ride in the daredevil stage. "It was a proper cleaning day, but we did a good job, no mistakes. I'm quite happy," said Rovanpera. Kenyan drivers Karan Patel and Hamza Anwar were slapped with a 0:10 seconds penalty each at the 13.12km Geothermal loop in the morning for being late at the Time Control (TC). Kenya's McRae Kimathi, also of Kenya, got a whopping one minute penalty for arriving early at the TC in Kedong. Despite the tough conditions, there was no any retirement on the day as all drivers are still in the gruelling battle going into day three today. Carl Tundo (1:29:25.2) is still the best Kenyan at 13th place overall. Patel is 20th in 1:39:21.6 while Kimathi is 21st in 1:42:36.1. Today, the drivers will cover six stages namely; Soysambu 1 (29.32 km), Elmenteita 1 (15.08 km), Sleeping Warrior 1 (31.04 km), Soysambu 2 (29.32 km) Elmenteita 2 (15.08 km) and Sleeping Warrior 2 (31.04 km).

Ogier steers Toyota's 1-2-3 lead on Day Two

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