Elfyn Evans kept first place after day two of the Safari Rally. The Welsh driver clocked a total time of 3:38:39.3 behind the wheel of his Toyota Yaris Rally1. Big changes happened during the afternoon when Estonian Ott Tanak moved up to second place with 3:40:36.7. Current WRC champion Thierry Neuville from Belgium grabbed third at 3:43:12.7. Both Hyundai racers passed several cars during the later stages.
Morning runs looked different. Evans was ahead, followed by his teammate Kalle Rovanpera and Tanak, who was third. Neuville sat back in sixth position early on. Everything changed as the day went forward. Rovanpera fell back to fifth place, letting both Hyundai drivers climb onto the podium spots. Evans started Saturday strong by winning two stages back-to-back—SS11 Sleeping Warrior and SS12 Elmenteita.
Japanese driver Takamoto Katsuta fought back hard. He pushed his Toyota Yaris Rally1 to victory in SS13 Soysambu before the break. Later, he won again during SS14 Sleeping Warrior 2, beating Rovanpera by 15.3 seconds. Evans took third place, finishing 27 seconds behind the leader. M-Sport Ford showed speed through Gregoire Munster, who surprised everyone by winning SS15 Elmenteita 2 with an 11:11.4 time.
Tanak finished the day powerfully by taking SS16 Soysambu 2 with a time of 20:19.1. This marked his sixth stage win of the rally. He began his winning streak Thursday during SS2 Mzabibu 1, beating Katsuta by just 1.1 seconds. Friday brought more success for the Estonians. He beat Neuville by 2.1 seconds through SS3 Camp Moran, then won SS4 Loldia with 14:29.3. His dominance continued with victories at SS6 Kedong and SS8 Loldia 2, posting 7:21.4 and 14:23.6 respectively.
Morning runs looked different. Evans was ahead, followed by his teammate Kalle Rovanpera and Tanak, who was third. Neuville sat back in sixth position early on. Everything changed as the day went forward. Rovanpera fell back to fifth place, letting both Hyundai drivers climb onto the podium spots. Evans started Saturday strong by winning two stages back-to-back—SS11 Sleeping Warrior and SS12 Elmenteita.
Japanese driver Takamoto Katsuta fought back hard. He pushed his Toyota Yaris Rally1 to victory in SS13 Soysambu before the break. Later, he won again during SS14 Sleeping Warrior 2, beating Rovanpera by 15.3 seconds. Evans took third place, finishing 27 seconds behind the leader. M-Sport Ford showed speed through Gregoire Munster, who surprised everyone by winning SS15 Elmenteita 2 with an 11:11.4 time.
Tanak finished the day powerfully by taking SS16 Soysambu 2 with a time of 20:19.1. This marked his sixth stage win of the rally. He began his winning streak Thursday during SS2 Mzabibu 1, beating Katsuta by just 1.1 seconds. Friday brought more success for the Estonians. He beat Neuville by 2.1 seconds through SS3 Camp Moran, then won SS4 Loldia with 14:29.3. His dominance continued with victories at SS6 Kedong and SS8 Loldia 2, posting 7:21.4 and 14:23.6 respectively.
