Rovanpera maintains comfortable lead ahead of Safari finale

With over 2 minutes heading into the final day of the rally, Rovanpera let his foot off the gas pedal slightly as he allowed his teammate Takamoto Katsuta to claw back over 15 seconds as he finished 7th, 6th and 5th in Malewa, Oserengoni and Hell's Gate stages in the morning loop. 

He however says it's not all won and will hope to clear the remaining three stages without any drama.

"It's been a slow morning for us; we are not taking any risks today. It's never in the bag before you cross the finish line. The plan will be the same for the afternoon loop, just minimal risks out there," sais Rovanpera.  

His teammate Elfyn Evans who endured three punctures yesterday won two stages- Oserengoni and Hell's gate - with Hyundai's Thierry Neuville winning the opening Malewa stage. 

"It was a clean morning perhaps not brave enough in the rough conditions this morning but apart from that it's generally been fine. To be honest a podium doesn't mean so much now since the pints system is so much different this year so the focus is only on the day points and we will try our best to make the most of it." 

The Welshman will hope for a miraculous performance in the afternoon loop as he looks to get maximum points available on Sunday with the new scoring pattern. 

 Hyundai's Ott Tanak has been in fine form this morning finishing second in all three stages and will hope to redeem his chances by garnering the maximum  points on offer. 

The drivers tackle the same Malewa, Oserengoni and Hell's gate stages this afternoon as the rally curtains come down here in Naivasha.