Takamoto Katsuta is on the verge of his maiden FIA World Rally Championship victory after a day of unprecedented attrition at Safari Rally Kenya left the Toyota Gazoo Racing driver with a 1min 25.5sec lead heading into Sunday’s finale.
In a rally renowned for its brutality, Saturday’s leg delivered a level of chaos rarely seen in the modern WRC era.
What began as a dominant 1-2-3 lockout for Toyota completely unravelled during a brutal morning loop, paving the way for Katsuta to inherit a shock advantage that he successfully defended through a treacherous afternoon.
The complexion of the rally was entirely rewritten during the notorious 31km Sleeping Warrior test and its subsequent road section. Championship leader Elfyn Evans was the first major casualty, retiring mid-stage with terminal rear-right suspension damage. Minutes later, the event was turned completely on its head during the liaison section back to the Naivasha service park.
Rally leader Oliver Solberg, who had just navigated the deep mud of Sleeping Warrior virtually blind after running out of washer fluid, succumbed to an alternature failure. Team-mate Sébastien Ogier’s incredible morning charge also came to an abrupt halt with a similar problem on the very same road section, wiping out the top three cars in one fell swoop.
Those retirements unexpectedly thrust Katsuta into the overall lead. The Japanese driver had deliberately adopted a cautious, survival-first approach through the morning after suffering a double puncture on the Elmenteita test and completing the remainder of the loop without any spare tyres. His strategy paid the ultimate dividend as he inherited a lead of over a minute ahead squad as the surviving crews limped back to midday service.
The afternoon offered no respite for the battered field. Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville, who had started the loop in second overall despite battling overheating issues all morning, retired on the second pass of Soysambu after sustaining a triple puncture with no spares remaining.
That allowed his team-mate, Adrien Fourmaux, navigated the carnage to seize the runner-up spot. The Frenchman claimed a stage win on Soysambu and focused entirely on protecting his i20 N Rally1, ending the day 1min 25.5sec adrift of a nervy Katsuta, who admitted he was trying to avoid “every single rock” to safeguard his maiden win.
Sami Pajari sits in incredible third overall despite a high-speed tyre explosion on Saturday morning’s Elmenteita test that cost the young Finn over five minutes and caused significant bodywork damage.
He bounced back brilliantly to win the afternoon pass of the same stage, leapfrogging Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi into the final podium position. Lappi ended the leg in fourth, having crawled through the afternoon with understeer and a front-left puncture, bluntly stating he was no longer looking at the results and is simply trying to finish.
M-Sport Ford’s Jon Armstrong endured a torrid afternoon, battling water temperature alerts and a front-right puncture, while team-mate Josh McErlean also nursed a persistent engine issue. Both drivers languish outside the top 10.
In the WRC2 category, Robert Virves managed his pace perfectly to end the day with a commanding 55.3sec class lead and an impressive fifth overall. Gus Greensmith holds second in class while Fabrizio Zaldivar, Andreas Mikkelesen, Diego Dominguez and Daniel Chwist round out the provisional top 10.
Saturday’s leg was ultimately brought to a premature close when organisers cancelled the second pass of Sleeping Warrior, deeming the deep, water-filled ruts too challenging for rescue vehicles to access following heavy afternoon rain.
Standings after Saturday (SS16 /20):
1. T Katsuta / A Johnston JPN Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 2h 41m 00.2s
2. A Fourmaux / A Coria FRA Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +1m 25.5s
3. S Pajari / M Salminen FIN Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +5m 29.1s
4. E Lappi / E Mälkönen FIN Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +6m 18.5s
5. R Virves / J Viilo EST Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 +9m 42.1s
6. G Greensmith / J Andersson GBR Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 +10m 37.4s
