If rallying was a jungle, Ott Tänak would be the lion. And right now, he’s roaring at the top of the Safari Rally Kenya leaderboard, halfway through Friday. The Estonian ace is holding off World Rally Championship leader Elfyn Evans by a solid 24.4 seconds, making it clear that he has no intention of sharing the hunting grounds just yet.
Behind Evans, a slightly bewildered Kalle Rovanperä is another 22.7 seconds back, while reigning world champion Thierry Neuville clings onto fourth place, trying to recover from what can only be described as a rally morning from hell.
Tänak, meanwhile, has been gliding through the treacherous Kenyan terrain like he’s on a Sunday drive a rare sight in this rally known for chewing up cars and spitting them out in pieces. He inherited the lead when Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta suffered a rear right puncture that sent him tumbling down the order. Evans, seeing an opportunity, gave chase like a greyhound after a rabbit, but Tänak wasn’t having any of it, winning two morning stages and cementing his advantage.
Rovanperä tried to shake things up but ended up shaking himself instead. Attempting an aggressive move in a narrow section, the Finn spun, lost over 15 seconds, and probably aged a couple of years trying to wrestle his Toyota back onto the road. He managed to claw some time back on SS5, but Tänak quickly reminded him who’s boss by taking SS6 by three seconds.
Evans, in the meantime, had his own “hold on to your butts” moment. Early in SS6, he misjudged a quick left hander, leading to a not so graceful ballet move that sent his Toyota into the air. Fortunately, it landed back on four wheels, and he carried on, probably muttering some choice words under his helmet.
And then there’s Neuville. The man could write a book on how NOT to spend a Friday morning at the Safari Rally. First, his Hyundai mechanics had to swap out a driveshaft and transmission in a 15 minute service window except it took them 21 minutes. Math says that’s six minutes too many, earning him a one minute penalty. Just when he thought he could catch a break, he jumped the start on SS5, bagging another 10 second penalty. Without these hiccups, he’d be just 31.1 seconds off the lead. Instead, he’s left pondering what could have been, probably over a very stressed-out lunch break.
Further down the order, Josh McErlean is quietly sitting in fifth for M-Sport, probably wondering why everyone else is having such a hard time. His teammate, Grégoire Munster, meanwhile, is having a full blown nightmare first breaking his rear right suspension, then his driveshaft. Someone should check if he walked under a ladder before this rally started.
Sami Pajari also got a taste of Safari madness, stopping to change a tire and loosing three minutes in the process. He’s sitting just outside the top 10, with his teammate Katsuta recovering to seventh.
In WRC2, Oliver Solberg is putting in a masterclass, leading his class and sitting in sixth overall, 40.3 seconds ahead of Kajetan Kajetanowicz. The latter is less concerned about Solberg and more focused on keeping Gus Greensmith behind him, who is looming just 17.4 seconds back and probably rubbing his hands together like a cartoon villain.
Meanwhile, Adrien Fourmaux deserves an award for perseverance. After retiring on Thursday due to a master relay failure (fancy way of saying his car said “nope”), he’s back in the game, running over 10 minutes off the lead. But hey, at least he’s avoiding drama today.
As the sun continues to bake the Kenyan landscape, the battle is far from over. Will Tänak hold on? Can Evans mount a comeback without airborne adventures? Will Neuville finish a stage without accumulating penalties?
