Estonian Ott Tänak (M-Sport Ford) took the lead in Rally Kenya on Thursday after the first short special in Nairobi, just a tenth of a second ahead of Frenchman Sébastien Ogier (Toyota) for the 7th round of the world championship ( WRC). Before the continuation of the program on Friday, the Finnish Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota), leader of the championship and winner of the rally last year, is 3rd at 2.4 seconds, followed by his runner-up in the championship, the Belgian Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) 4th at 2.7 seconds.
Since the return of the Safari Rally to the WRC in 2021, the event begins with this 4.84 km “super special” in Kasanari, a district of Nairobi, in a format of a sprint race between two drivers on parallel dirt tracks. Ogier, who was opposed to Esapekka Lappi (Hyundai), first took the lead and almost won this SS1 as in 2021 and 2022. But Tanäk, opposed to Elfyn Evans (Toyota) just after, beat him by a breath on the clock.
From Friday to Sunday, the reigning world champion Rovanperä (22) will try to increase his championship lead over his pursuers Neuville and Tänak, respectively 25 and 33 points behind after six out of 13 rounds. Ogier, winner in 2021 at the Kenya, is 5th in the championship despite only having a partial program this season. “I need the Kenyan gods this weekend to help me. It will take luck!” Ogier smiled after the special, well aware that the Kenyan tracks are ruthless: in 2022, victory had eluded him after a puncture.