Reed NewsReed News

Oliver Solberg leads Safari Rally, forced to retire with car problems

SportsSports
Key Points
  • Oliver Solberg led the Safari Rally by 42.6 seconds before retiring due to car problems.
  • Both Solberg and teammate Sébastien Ogier had to retire after their cars broke down on a transport stage.
  • Takamoto Katsuta is now the leader, with a chance for Solberg and Ogier to restart on Sunday.

Oliver Solberg led the Safari Rally halfway into the competition. He was forced to retire on the transport stage due to car problems. 6 seconds over teammate Sébastien Ogier after 13 of 20 special stages.

Both drivers had to retire as their cars broke down. Toyota's deputy team principal Juha Kankkunen said the last stage was muddy and tough, and mud got into the engine side, destroying the generators for both cars, and Solberg also had transmission issues. There is a possibility for both to restart on Sunday and still earn some championship points from the weekend.

the last stage was muddy and tough, and mud got into the engine side, destroying the generators for both cars, and Solberg also had transmission issues

Juha Kankkunen, Toyota's deputy team principal

The new leader is Takamoto Katsuta. Before the rally, Solberg warned it would be incredibly tough due to recent rain.

it would be incredibly tough due to recent rain

Oliver Solberg

Transparency

How we verified this article

UnconfirmedBased on 1 sources
1 sources4 Involved