After barely surviving on day two, having his lead cut to just a second, Toyota Gazoo’s Oliver Solberg extended his lead in the Saturday morning session, gaining a huge 42.6-second lead over his close challenger and teammate Sebastien Ogier at the conclusion of the day three morning session of the WRC Safari Rally in Naivasha.
Solberg opened Saturday morning with a bang, winning Soysambu 1 in a dramatic day which saw many drivers suffering car damages, with the shocker being the retirement of the defending champion Elfyn Evans of Toyota Gazoo, his first since 2024 in Greece.
Ogier, who is aiming for his third Safari Rally victory, reigned supreme in the remaining two stages of the morning session: Elementaita 1 and Sleeping Warrior 1.
The 24-year-old Swedsih is still in command of the rally with a time of 2:13:23.1 after 13 stages, followed by Ogier and Katsuta Takamoto, who are 2nd and 3rd, respectively.
It was a terrific morning for Toyota Gazoo after its other lead drivers, Solberg and Ogier, retired and will resume the action on the final day tomorrow after suffering broken alternators.
Action resumes later on Saturday at 3:05pm with the Soysambu 2, Elementaita 2 and Sleeping Warrior 2 stages.
