Unlucky Kimathi so near, yet so far in tension-filled Croatia Rally
Kenyan rally driver McRae Kimathi and M-Sport Poland Ford mechanics assess the damage on McRae’s Ford Fiesta Rally3 car after he dropped out of the Croatia Rally with an oil leak on April 24, 2022.
What you need to know:
- Kimathi, 27, painfully crashed out of the World Rally Championship (WRC) Croatia Rally with just the competition’s final stage remaining Sunday, and while lying fourth overall in the Junior WRC category
- Navigated by Mwangi Kioni, Kimathi’s Ford Fiesta Rally3 car slightly went off the road on an unpredictably wet afternoon, picking up an oil leak and irreparable damage in the process
- Kimathi said he will now focus on the Pearl of Africa Rally in Uganda from May 6 to 8 before traveling to Porto for the Portugal Rally
In Zagreb
The gods of motorsport may have conspired against McRae Kimathi, but the young Kenyan driver has drawn a lot of positives from his first tarmac rally outing at the weekend’s Croatia Rally.
Kimathi, 27, painfully crashed out of the World Rally Championship (WRC) Croatia Rally with just the competition’s final stage remaining Sunday, and while lying fourth overall in the Junior WRC category.
Navigated by Mwangi Kioni, Kimathi’s Ford Fiesta Rally3 car slightly went off the road on an unpredictably wet afternoon, picking up an oil leak and irreparable damage in the process.
Toyota’s Kalle Rovanpera of Finland, winner of the last round in Sweden, made it back-to-back victories, edging out his closest challenger, Estonia’s Ott Tanak of Hyundai, by 4.3 seconds to extend his championship lead to 29 points after three rounds of the 13-event season in a dramatic, last stage battle between Toyota and Hyundai.
Kimathi is among seven drivers who were entered in the Croatia Rally under the Junior Category in an initiative by the International Automobile Federation aimed at developing motorsport talent worldwide.
Kenyan rally driver McRae Kimathi’s navigator Mwangi Kioni and M-Sport Poland Ford mechanics assess the damage on McRae’s Ford Fiesta Rally3 car after he dropped out of the Croatia Rally with an oil leak on April 24, 2022.
The WRC competition now moves to Portugal (May 19-22) and Italy (June 2-5) before coming to Kenya for the Safari Rally from June 23 to 26.
Kimathi said he will now focus on the Pearl of Africa Rally in Uganda from May 6 to 8 before traveling to Porto for the Portugal Rally.
The Uganda contest is part of the African Rally Championship and follows Kenya’s Equator Rally held earlier this month and won by Kenya’s Karan Patel.
In a Croatia Rally contest where tyre change was absolutely crucial, the ever-changing weather conditions of the Balkan nation threw the spanner in the works, reducing the competition to a gamble of sorts.
An unexpected downpour in the morning of the final day of action on Sunday saw Tanak pick the right tyres for his Hyundai to snatch the lead from long-time pacesetter Rovanpera’s Toyota Yaris and gain a 1.4-second advantage going into the final competitive section of the day - the 14.09-kilometre Wolf Power Stage between Zagorska Sela and Kumrovek in northern Croatia along the country’s border with Slovenia.
But Rovanpera’s Pirelli tyre choice happened to be ideal for the dry Wolf Power Stage as Tanak struggled to cope, falling 4.3 seconds off target having set off last on the stage - in the reverse running order - throwing the Toyota camp into rapturous celebrations.
“I was sure we could not be so fast with these tyres, but it’s amazing. We pushed really hard and I think we deserve it this weekend. For sure, it was the toughest win of my career,” Rovanpera, 21, whose father Harri Rovanpera is a Safari Rally veteran, said.
“I didn’t take any risks but Kalle obviously did a good drive. We were fighting for the win, but only because of clever decisions and tyre choices,” Tanak said, shortly after he and navigator Jonne Halttunen handed over their celebratory champagne to their band of loyal, loud, travelling supporters at the finish ramp in Zagreb.
Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville of Belgium pipped Ford’s Irishman Craig Breen to the final podium position, surviving a dramatic weekend that saw him arrested for speeding on the transport section, spinning off road on the final stage after having pushed his car into service in the nick of time in the first full day.
M-Sport Poland Ford mechanics assess the damage on McRae’s Ford Fiesta Rally3 car after he dropped out of the Croatia Rally with an oil leak on April 24, 2022.
“The event was very difficult for us but we kept fighting… we had a small problem in the beginning and it got worse but we made sure we are here at the finish and get some points.
“This weekend I was fighting very much with my luck than I usually do….” Neuville said at the finish ramp.
In the junior category, Lauri Joona bagged his first-ever victory with close challengers Sami Pajari and Robert Virves falling by the wayside alongside Kimathi.
“This last day was very interesting for us. We though it was going to be dry and so we went for the more dry tyres but the gods decided it’s gonna rain so we ended up having the wrong tyres for the last four stages,” Kimathi explained.
“It was very difficult for us to stay on the road, but we managed to do the three stages. Unfortunately, on the last stage we had an oil leak coming towards the end, but we finished the stage.
“But when we went to the next stage the car stopped and we were out, right at the end.
“But it was a really good experience and now that I’ve done all the stages, next year the experience won’t be as new as this year.”
Leading results from the World Rally Championship Croatia Rally on Sunday:
1.Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen (FIN/Toyota) two hours 48 minutes, 21.5 seconds,
2.Ott Tanak-Martin Jarveoja (EST/Hyundai) at 4.3sec,
3.Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (BEL/Hyundai) at 2min 21sec,
4.Craig Breen-Paul Nagle (IRL/M-Sport Ford) 3:07.3,
5.Elfyn Evans-Scott Martin (GBR/Toyota) 3:46.0,
6.Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (JPN/IRL/Toyota) 8:08.5,
7.Yohan Rossel-Valentin Sarreaud (FRA/Citroen C3) 10:01.0
Stage winners:
Kalle Rovanpera 8 (SS1, SS2, SS4, SS5, SS6, SS7, SS16, SS20), Esapekka Lappi 4 (SS10, S13, SS14, SS17), Thierry Neuville 3 (SS8, SS12, SS18), Ott Tanak 2 (SS11, SS19), Evans 2 (SS3, SS9)1. (Stage 15 was neutralised).
World Rally Championship standings (after three of 13 scheduled rallies):
Drivers:
1.Kalle Rovanpera 76 points,
2.Thierry Neuville 47,
3.Craig Breen 30,
4.Sebastien Loeb 27,
5.Ott Tanak 27,
6.Takamoto Katsuta 26,
7.Gus Greensmith 20,
8.Sebastien Ogier 19,
9.Elfyn Evans 17,
10.Esapekka Lappi 15
Constructors
1.Toyota 126 points
2. Hyundai 84
3. MSport-Ford 79.