Esapekka Lappi spread her hands in wonder – Kalle Rovanperä’s driving day ended in disaster for Hyundai | Sport

The Friday of the World Rally Championship in Kenya was divided for Finns. Kalle Rovanperä set the record time in all special stages, but Esapekka Lappi had to stop due to a technical fault.

Kalle Rovanperän the base times driven for each special stage of the day and the reliability problems of the Hyundai team in the World Rally of Kenya.

These two things seem to repeat themselves every year in the World Rally Championship. Rovanperä completely dominated the Friday of the Safari rally, when he set the record time for all six special stages and leads the rally by 56.9 seconds ahead of his teammate Elfyn Evans.

Complements Toyota’s triple leadership Takamoto Katsutawhich is a good minute behind Rovanperä.

Rovanperä did the same trick last year in the World Rally Championship in Estonia, when he crushed the others in Saturday’s special stages.

However, Toyota’s Friday in Kenya got off to a rocky start, as the Hyundai drivers Esapekka Lapin with the lead seemed to have found a better pace than their competitors, with the exception of Rovanperä.

In the end, Hyundai’s day ended in disaster.

First Lappi had to stop at the first special stage of the afternoon after the gearbox broke. Team mate at the next special test Ott Tänak jolted into second place after stepping on a stone on the road and drove fast into the bank.

The rally of the Estonian champion, like the previous two this season, ended in an interruption.

– The previous car had probably lifted a really big rock onto the road. The corner was in the dark and there was a lot of speed, so it was a surprise. I had time to react, but I just had to hit a rock and see what happens, rather than drive straight out, Tänak summarized the situation on the rally website In an interview with DirtFish.

He reflected that this sort of thing happens often in the Safari Rally, which is full of surprises.

Hyundai’s miserable streak seems to continue

Lappi was at least as disappointed in the service park at the end of the day. Hyundai’s gearbox failed and the car shifted to front wheel drive first.

– Changing the gear had no effect, only noise was heard. A few hundred meters later there was no power at all, regardless of whether it was first or fifth gear, Lappi described his interruption and spread his hands in disappointment.

Lappi, who won the previous World Rally Championship in Sweden, said that the car did not take a hard hit that would have broken the gearbox.

– There have been shocks for everyone during the day’s special tests. There was nothing that should cause such a thing, Lappi lamented and praised his speed in the morning.

On Friday afternoon, it was not yet known whether Lappi will continue the rally on Saturday. In an interview with DirtFish, Tänak speculated that the team will have the car ready for Saturday.

Leading the World Series Thierry Neuville is the best Hyundai driver at the end of Friday in fourth. He also suffered a flat tire on Friday, but survived it with a loss of seconds.

The Safari rally has been sad for the team in the 2020s. Last year and the year before, Toyota took a quadruple win. After the competition returned to the calendar in 2021 after a break, Toyota celebrated a double victory.

Lapp also had reliability problems in his Hyundai last year, as his cardan shaft banged in the middle of a brilliant Saturday. The previous year, Ott Tänak suffered from the same problem.

The last two driving days of the World Rally in Kenya will be spiced up by the World Cup struggle, in which Rovanperä, as a part-time driver, will not be participating this season. Behind him, his teammates Evans and Katsuta will drive a full season and fight against the Hyundai drivers for the World Championship title.