Rovanperä wonders about the risk tactics of Hyundai drivers.
Kalle Rovanperä rises in the Safari Rally. Vesa Pöppönen / AOP
Kalle Rovanperä is involved in the Safari Rally victory at the end of the first good race day.
The day started with the Hyundai driver Ott Tänak’s command. Tänak knocked the bottom time after another, while Elfyn Evans, the second, and Rovanperä, third, were steady of the Estonian.
The situation turned up in the afternoon when Tänak dismantled the drive shaft from his car. The Hyundai star fell third behind Evans and Rovanperä.
Tough receipt
Rovanperä kept his plan tightly and did not worry, even though he was at worst almost a minute behind. Finally, the Finnish star ended the day in second place just 7.7 seconds from his teammate Evans.
– The day went pretty well. The morning jog could have been much better. I lost time on narrow and technical roads, a little like in previous years, but this time maybe too much. I couldn’t find a good feeling in the car, Rovanperä said.
– Otherwise we came smartly all day. We brought the car back here in one piece. I was sure something could happen when some others were really hard.
Rovanperä’s statement was a small spike in Hyundai. Hyundai star drivers Thierry Neuville and Tänak were clearly in a clip of Camp Moran, which opened the afternoon loop faster than Toyota drivers, whose conditions were extremely difficult.
After Camp Moran, even the difficulties began, and Neuville was also a 50 -second time penalty when he was late for the next special stage departure due to remedies.
“May explode”
In the afternoon, Rovanperä focused on controlling speed.
– Thierry and Ott were really fast for a long time the second time. But it did not surprise me that something happened because the clip was really in a very good way. It felt like the car might explode at any moment, Rovanperä described.
– Every year, this rally has the same recipe as how to do it. Every year, some riders are really fast, but at the end they are not the fastest.
Rovanperä, if someone, knows the winning recipe for the Safari Rally, as he has won the competition twice. Of the Hyundai star two, only Tänak has once reached the podium in Kenya.
– The one who is the fastest with every piece is not winning here. All you have to do is drive evenly and keep the vehicles intact. It goes pretty far, the Finn outlined.