Recalling the best moments of the 2021 WRC Safari Rally is like having a good dream, but the highlight of the four-day fiesta was Frenchman Sebastien Ogier’s move from a no-hoper to the top of the podium.
When Ogier limped into Friday’s mid-leg service after a brutal morning on the southern shores of the Great Rift Valley’s Lake Naivasha, victory was a distant thought in the Frenchman’s mind, as he shared with WRC.com of the great Safari return.
A broken oil canister in his Toyota Yaris’ rear suspension left him trailing more than two minutes off the lead in seventh.
Saturday’s recovery netted three-speed test wins to climb to third, but Thierry Neuville was still 75 seconds in front.
The best likely outcome for the points leader appeared to be second, with Yaris colleague Takamoto Katsuta the sandwich between him and Neuville. Sunday changed everything.
When Neuville smashed his Hyundai i20’s right rear damper on a rock, Ogier was perfectly placed to capitalise.
He demoted a compliant Katsuta to win by 21.8 seconds and take a huge step towards his eighth world title.
Kenya might have been absent for almost two decades, but its ability to shock remained. It was cruel misfortune for the Belgian.
He had understood the punishing power of Kenya’s roads better than anyone and led for all but two stages until his premature demise.
It was the third rally in succession that Hyundai had retired from the lead with a broken suspension.
“Very hard luck for us, but also for all the team,” he smiled weakly.
“Three tough rally weekends in a row, and nobody deserved that. We would have deserved three victories in the last three events, but unfortunately, we didn’t,” he told WRC.com
The Safari lived up to its reputation as one of the world’s iconic motorsport events.
Rocky and sandy gravel tracks around Lakes Naivasha and Elmenteita proved brutal, while stunning scenery, exotic wildlife and enthusiastic locals portrayed Africa at its best.
The unremitting roads cut a swathe through the big guns in Friday’s vicious opening leg.
Elfyn Evans retired in the morning’s Kedong stage when he clipped a rock and broke the front right suspension on his Yaris.
A stone smashed a suspension arm on Dani Sordo’s i20 in the same test and his car over-steered into a ditch.
Oliver Solberg suffered rear right suspension problems after going off and called it a day when a damaged roll cage added to his troubles, while Lorenzo Bertelli parked his Ford Fiesta with a coolant leak.
Kalle Rovanpera briefly snatched the top spot from Neuville but his hopes were wrecked when his Yaris became trapped in deep dust and was towed off the track.
“I bless the rains down in Africa,” goes the lyric in Toto’s classic 1980s track.
Some did and some didn’t as a downpour in Saturday’s closing Sleeping Warrior stage caused bedlam.
The dusty roads quickly turned to mud and Pirelli’s hard compound tyres carried by all offered minimal grip in conditions akin to ice.
Surviving was the name of the game and second-placed Katsuta almost didn’t, skidding off to yield 20 seconds to a wide-eyed Neuville.
“I’m not very emotional and not very much stressed, but I have to say I was,” Neuville admitted.
It all went wrong for Tänak.
Caught in the storm, his i20’s windscreen misted up and he stopped to wipe it clear.
He dropped more than a minute to Katsuta and instead of challenging for second, the Estonian found himself relegated to fourth.
M-Sport Ford’s Gus Greensmith and Adrien Fourmaux reaped the rewards of a risk-free strategy. Greensmith bagged a career-best fourth while Fourmaux celebrated his maiden top-level stage win.
The pair were split by just a tenth at the end. BY DAILY NATION