The young Finn, already winner of three events this season and provisional leader of the world championship, thwarted the pitfalls of the Kenyan tracks, which proved to be particularly muddy and slippery on Saturday, as well as mechanical glitches.

He dealt a real crushing blow to his opponents during the 12th and penultimate special of the day, winning it with more than 11 seconds ahead of Belgian Thierry Neuville (Hyundai).

He was therefore 40.3 seconds ahead of the Briton Elfyn Evans at the end of the day, 1 min 15 sec over the Japanese Takamoto Katsuta and 2 min 38 sec over the Frenchman Sébastien Ogier, all on Toyota.

Ogier, who had a puncture on Friday when he was leading the race, showed that he had not given up by winning the 13th and last special on Saturday.

Even if he no longer aligns himself with all the championship events, Ogier, eight-time world champion and winner in Kenya last year, has not given up his chances of repeating his feat, however tenuous.

Black day for Hyundai

Hyundai had a dark day with first of all Ott Tänak who had to stop a few hundred meters from the finish of the 10th special in the morning.

Despite some improvised mechanics on the side of the track, the Estonian, 2019 WRC world champion and could not start on time when he was in 4th place.

His teammate Thierry Neuville, who had set the fastest scratch times in the 9th and 10th stages and was in 3rd place, hit a tree in the 13th, receiving a ten-minute penalty for not having crossed the finish line. arrived within the given time.

He suddenly fell to 5th place, some 11 minutes behind the leader.

Nine-time French world champion Sébastien Loeb (Ford), who had resumed racing after his mechanical setbacks on Friday, suffered a broken front suspension on Saturday's last special.

Sébastien Loeb and his navigator Isabelle Galmiche aboard their Ford Puma during the Kenya Safari Rally not far from the city of Naivasha in Kenya on June 24, 2022 Tony KARUMBA AFP

However, he managed to cross the finish line while remaining in 10th position.

"It was time, everything is completely destroyed," he noted.

His car must now be repaired in the parc fermé to allow him to set off again on Sunday.

Like Ogier, Loeb only occasionally takes part in the WRC championship and has not returned to Kenya for twenty years.

The event was removed from the calendar between 2003 and 2021 when it exerted its dominance over the WRC.

The competitors still have six stages to play on Sunday, the last of which, the "Power Stage", rewards the first 5 with additional points in the championship.

© 2022 AFP