This archive report was first published on 26 June 2021.
Naivasha, Kenya, June 26 - The WRC Safari Rally took a dramatic turn on Saturday as a sudden downpour in the closing 31.04km Sleeping Warrior stage caused chaos, but Thierry Neuville emerged unscathed to extend his lead to almost a minute.
Neuville, driving a Hyundai i20, has led the sixth round of the season for most of the way and increased his advantage over Takamoto Katsuta to 57.4 seconds after winning the first of six fast and smooth speed tests around Lake Elmenteita.
However, the dry and dusty roads quickly turned to mud, and the hard compound tyres carried by all offered minimal grip in conditions akin to ice. Katsuta skated off the road and conceded more than 20 seconds to Neuville.
"I'm not very emotional and not very much stressed, but I have to say I was," Neuville admitted. "After all that fighting during the two last days, I refused to lose that position and kept fighting very hard. At the end, I was relieved to be in the lead. It doesn't matter how much, being in the lead was the main thing."
Neuville's lead was further extended as Ott Tänak, who was challenging for second, dropped more than a minute to Katsuta after his Hyundai i20's windscreen misted up in the storm. Tänak was relegated to fourth, while Katsuta fought for his first WRC podium in a Toyota Yaris.
Championship leader Sébastien Ogier was in recovery mode after Friday's suspension troubles and won three stages but his biggest break came in the final stage, where he steered a cautious path in the rain to climb to third, just 18.1 seconds behind Katsuta.
Ford Fiesta duo Gus Greensmith and Adrien Fourmaux consolidated fifth and sixth, while Kalle Rovanperä was a lonely seventh in his Yaris. Toyota's Elfyn Evans and Hyundai's Dani Sordo climbed the order after retiring on Friday and are now 12th and 13th, respectively.
On Sunday, the finale spans the north and south of Lake Naivasha, with two loops of the forested Loldia and Hell's Gate tests sandwiching the rocky Malewa. The second pass of Hell's Gate forms the bonus points-paying Wolf Power Stage.
