WRC Safari Rally Kenya: Extreme road conditions force stage cancellation

Wild weather contributed to organisers making the decision to cancel a stage of the World Rally Championship event

Safari Rally Kenya organisers have been forced to cancel stage three of the World Rally Championship event due to “deteriorating road conditions”.

Crews were scheduled to kick off Friday’s action with a second pass through the 24.35km Camp Moran stage, but the FIA confirmed that the condition of the road was not at the standard that would allow for the stage to go ahead.

“Following heavy overnight rain, conditions on SS3 Camp Moran deteriorated significantly, with substantial rutting developing along the route, leaving a section of the stage inaccessible to both technical intervention vehicles and medical intervention vehicles," the FIA explained in a statement. "The severity of the deterioration also created extremely challenging conditions for the running of the stage, resulting in its cancellation.”

The Camp Moran stage kicked off the rally on Thursday afternoon, testing crews to the limit as heavy rain turned an already tricky test into a mud bath. The road quickly became full of water and severely churned up after the field passed through.

Those at the top of the running order faced the best of the weather. Toyota’s Oliver Solberg managed to tame the extreme conditions to post a blistering time, 30s quicker than nearest rival and Toyota team-mate Elfyn Evans. The pair were among a number of drivers that struggled for visibility as windscreens became covered with mud while also misting up.

Almost four minutes separated the Rally1 field as the extreme conditions took hold. Two-time Safari winner and reigning world champion Sebastien Ogier was more than a minute off the pace in third, with the top Hyundai driver Thierry Neuville, more than two minutes slower than Solberg’s pace.

As a result of the cancellation, the rally is expected to continue with a pass through stage four, Loldia (18.95km), with Solberg heading a Toyota top five lockout, leading Evans by 33.3s and Ogier, 1m05.1s back in third.