Wild drama on the final day of the World Rally Championship in Kenya – Sebastien Ogier defeated Kalle Rovanperä in an exciting duel

Kalle Rovanperä, who finished second in the Safari Rally, increased his World Championship lead. For Sebastien Ogier, the victory was the third of the season.

The reigning world champion of the World Rally Championship Kalle Rovanperä has finished second in the World Rally Championship in Kenya. Toyota’s Finnish ace lost the win to his teammate For Sebastien Ogierwhich returned to the number one spot in Kenya after a year off.

For Ogier, the win was the third of the season. No other driver has been able to win more than once this season.

For Toyota, the Sarafi rally was a resounding success, as the team’s drivers took a quadruple victory like last year. After Ogier and Rovanperä, the next places were taken by a Briton Elfyn Evans and Japanese Takamoto Katsuta.

Hyundai’s was the fastest in the Power Stage that ended the day Thierry Neuville before Ott Tänakia and Kalle Rovanperä.

Hyundai’s Esapekka Lapin the car slipped from third place yesterday and the dreams of the top places were buried. He was 12th in the final results.

Rovanperä increased his points lead to Neuville, which was already second in the World Series before Kenya. Now the difference in points is 37 in favor of the Finn, while before this weekend it was 25. Ogier, who is fourth, will not drive the whole season.

Phenomenal performances from Rovanpera and Ogier

Ogier and Rovanperä were in a class of their own all weekend. The French driver set several bottom times on Friday. On Saturday, Rovanperä’s attack began and the Finn knocked the sector bottoms with three special tests.

Rovanperä was especially muted in the last special test of the day, which was run in heavy rain. For many drivers, the slippery road and mud created great difficulties, and for example Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville and M-Sport’s Ott Tänak drove many times long.

However, the Suomalaistahtahti shook the overwhelming top time and was more than 15 seconds faster than Ogier. Before the final day, the difference between the two was about 17 seconds in favor of Ogier.

In Sunday’s opening special stage, Rovanperä continued his hard pursuit and was at best already eight seconds behind Ogier. On the other hand, the EK 12 saw a phenomenal performance from the eight-time world champion.

Ogier hit a tree and the rear wing and tailgate of his Toyota came off completely. However, Ogier was not startled by this, as he was 8.6 seconds faster than Rovanperä, who came in second. He also fought through the last stage of the morning without a tailgate.

Heavy drama before the Power Stage

Before the Power Stage, there was a lot of drama when the Toyota cars of Ogier, Rovanperä and Evans had engine overheating problems. Rovanperä and especially Ogier had big challenges with speed.

At the 14-kilometer intermediate point, it seemed that Rovanperä was catching up with the Frenchman by ten seconds, which would have given the leading driver only a few seconds ahead of the Power Stage.

In the end, Rovanperä caught up to Ogier by about four seconds.

Lapland’s third place turned into misfortune

Esapekka Lapi’s weekend was very divided. Competing in the Safari rally for the first time, the Hyundai driver had a bad start to the race when the car’s Cardan shaft broke during a special test.

However, in the race itself, Lappi quickly got on a great ride and drove the fastest time with ek 3. On Saturday morning, the Finnish driver rose to third place when Elfyn Evans, who was ahead of him, had technical problems.

Lapland was on the podium with a margin of no less than 50 seconds, but the Finn’s day was darkened in the first special stage of the afternoon. The PTO shaft of his car broke again and Lappi had to leave the car on the side of the road. The top spots went to it.

Lappi tried to continue his rally on Sunday, but the damaged car presented challenges. The cardan shaft broke again.

The World Series continues in four weeks at Rally Estonia.