Maxine Wahome and his partner Murage Waigwa are on the cusp of a maiden WRC3 win following a tough penultimate day of WRC Safari Rally Kenya.
The former motocross rider is only six stages away from a maiden WRC3 victory, carrying a hefty 14min 55 sec advantage into the final day on Sunday.
Following a late retirement on Friday night which saw her incur a 10-minute penalty and relinquish the lead to McRae Kimathi, Maxine did not have to wait too long to go back on top on Saturday morning despite some troubles of her own.
Maxine had a scare on the morning’s opening stage at Soysambu 1, when she suffered computer gremlins in her Ford Fiesta Rally3, seeing her lose six minutes.
“Its been good, tough, hot today. There is lots of rocks in the stages so you have to be cautious wherever you go but other than that all was good. In an early morning stage we picked a puncture but we were able to get through the stage. We didn’t waste too much time in the stage. The first stage we had to change computers but and lost quite some time there ,” said Maxine.
FIA Junior WRC regular Kimathi hit a rock on the line on the same stage nearing the 15km mark, sustaining significant rear and front suspension damage, bringing to an abrupt end to his day.
Hamza Anwar sits in second overall heading into Sunday. Kimathi's problems played to Maxine's advantage, leaving her nearly 20min clear of her next closest rival Hamza Anwar.
Hamza Anwar said: “The going was good today, Alhamdulillah. We are loving it. Friday was a very difficult day. The last stage was red flagged but we managed to get through everything. The morning run was all good today. Tomorrow, we will try to drive sensibly and avoid any unnecessary errors."
