Safari’s punishing nature catches out Kenyan drivers

The WRC Safari Rally day three has lived up to it's expectations as being the toughest even for the locals after the Soysambu, Elementaita and Sleeping Warrior stages dealt big blows to Hamza Anwar, McRae Kimathi and Jason Bailey who had been flying in second position in the WRC 3 category. 

Anwar was the first casualty when his Ford Fiesta Rally3 choked to a halt after a water splash near the end of the Soysambu stage in the morning loop. The FIA rally star has now completely retired from the rally.  

Bailey then followed suit after hitting a compression damaging his car's oil sump as he watched second position slip through his fingers.

Mcrae Kimathi started the day (Saturday) third on the WRC 3 log and was hopeful of a podium finish in the third support category but was ruled out by a damaged steering and will hope to rejoin the rally tomorrow. 

"The first stage (Soysambu) was very good for us; we were taking it very cautiously We didn't want to break a lot of things but unfortunately we are out we had a small issue in Elementaita. One of our steering racks broke just randomly so yeah, the guys are trying to find out why and ensure it doesn't happen tomorrow and I am sure the boys (mechanics) can fix it. It's a small issue; they're just prepping up to ensure it doesn't happen again. It was a freak accident." 

The only Kenyan driver to survive the morning decimation was Jeremy Wahome who has now climbed up to second on the WRC 3 category. 

"The first loop was quite okay for me. We knew today's stages would be quite tough so our plan was to just gauge it as we go to push but sensibly which we managed to do. Unfortunately for the other guys I could see a lot of rally cars on the road side so I think we've picked up a few places and we will check how many. Sleeping warrior wasn't too bad; it was muddy though," said Wahome. 

This development has now blown away Kenya's chances of repeating last year's heroics when disgraced Maxine Wahome claimed victory in the WRC 3. 

This has cut out Diego Dominguez work load as he is now almost guaranteed victory in the category, but nothing is ever guaranteed in the Safari rally.