Gus Greensmith led WRC2 by more than three minutes at Safari Rally Kenya despite having flu-like symptoms all day Friday.
Greensmith began his 2024 campaign at the third round of the FIA World Rally Championship, and while he wasn't feeling fighting fit, things couldn't have gone any better for the Briton.
Greensmith's lead in the Toksport Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 increased after his closest competitor, Oliver Solberg, stopped to change a wheel in SS3.
Greensmith could afford to manage his risk level on the rugged African stages because Solberg had dropped back and the rest of the field posed no major threat. After finishing 3m 23.0s ahead of second-placed Kajetan Kajetanicz, he was just looking forward to getting some rest.
"This afternoon has been the toughest afternoon I've ever had in rallying," Greensmith said in a statement. "I'm completely exhausted." "I need a bed, and soon!"
Kajetanowicz lost time in the final stage of the morning's race due to sand in his Škoda's air intake, which reduced power. Despite this, he finished 14.5 seconds ahead of Solberg in his Hyundai i20 N Rally2, with Safari debutant Nicolas Ciamin finishing 11.9 seconds behind in fourth.
Charles Munster, brother of Rally1 driver Grégoire, finished fifth ahead of FIA Junior WRC regular Diego Dominguez, who completed the final 30km of the day without power steering in his Citroën C3 Rally2.
Kajetanowicz led the WRC2 Challenger leaderboard, while local driver Carl Tundo dominated the WRC Masters Cup timesheets despite tyre, brake, and suspension issues with his Ford Fiesta R5.