Sweden’s Oliver Solberg retained his lead at the 2026 Safari Rally Kenya after Friday morning’s loop, but a fast-charging Sébastien Ogier closed the gap to move firmly into contention for victory.

Solberg had begun the day with a comfortable 33.3-second advantage over Toyota team-mate Elfyn Evans and more than a minute over Ogier.

By the end of the morning stages, however, the gap had narrowed, with Solberg leading Evans by 28.8 seconds, while Ogier was only 38.2 seconds behind the rally leader.

The day’s action was slightly delayed after overnight heavy rain forced organisers to cancel the opening stage a second run through Camp Moran because deteriorating road conditions made parts of the route inaccessible for technical and medical teams. When the rally resumed, crews were greeted by dry stages and clear skies.

Ogier wasted little time in making up ground after losing over a minute on Thursday due to sudden rainfall. The Toyota driver set the pace in stage four, finishing 2.5 seconds ahead of Sami Pajari.

The Frenchman’s stage time was 16.2 seconds quicker than Solberg’s after the Swede ran wide at one corner, an error he estimated cost him around ten seconds.

Ogier was also significantly faster than Evans, who struggled with a brake issue on his Toyota GR Yaris.

Finland’s Sami Pajari impressed by winning the remaining two stages of the morning loop. Pajari narrowly avoided rolling his car earlier but continued pushing hard, although he finished one stage with a tyre partly off the rim.

Despite suffering a front-right puncture, Ogier continued to gain time on Evans and reduced the gap to his team-mate to 9.4 seconds by the end of stage six.

“I tried to be careful, but it’s a pure lottery here. We’ll see what conditions we get later, but it looks like the rain could return,” Ogier said.

Solberg managed to slightly extend his advantage in the final stage of the loop, setting a time 0.1 seconds faster than Ogier and 1.6 seconds quicker than Evans, who had briefly reduced the gap earlier.

“I was probably too careful with the rocks this morning,” Solberg said. “As long as I stay around Evans’ pace I’m happy, but Ogier is very quick.”

Evans admitted the early stages were frustrating as he dealt with mechanical issues.

“The first stage was tricky because of a small issue, but we managed to fix it afterwards. Out here it’s all about how much risk you’re willing to take without damaging the car.”

Toyota Gazoo Racing continued to dominate the leaderboard with a top-five lockout, as Takamoto Katsuta sat fourth, more than a minute off the lead but comfortably ahead of Pajari.

Meanwhile, Thierry Neuville remained the top performer for Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT in sixth place. The Belgian lost time after stalling his engine and later suffered a puncture while also reporting a lack of engine power.

“The car feels very slow compared to previous years. I’m struggling with the power, but I just want to enjoy the rally,” Neuville said.

Further down the order, Adrien Fourmaux climbed to seventh ahead of Jon Armstrong, while Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi endured a difficult morning in ninth.

Britain’s Gus Greensmith continued to lead the WRC2 category, sitting tenth overall as the rally headed into the afternoon stages.

With unpredictable weather and punishing terrain still ahead, the battle for victory in Naivasha remains wide open.