Tanak seeks turnaround in Kenya after slow start

NAIROBI: Ot Tanak is hoping this week’s Safari Rally Kenya will help get his challenge for this year’s World Rally Championship back on track.

Hyundai’s Estonian star has misfired through the first two rounds of the series - going off the road on both Rallye Monte-carlo and Rally Sweden has let him fith in the standings and 27 points down on his team-mate and points leader Thierry Neuville.

While Tanak has shown plenty of speed in Africa in the past, the 2019 world champion has rarely had the rub of the green when it’s come to an overall placing. His podium third spot on the Safari’s 2021 return to the WRC calendar remains a highlight. He’s looking to change that in Naivasha next week.

“Personally,” Tanak said, “I’ve not managed to get into the groove yet this season and don’t have any strong results. I hope I can change that by keeping things clean and scoring well in this rally. I need to deliver.

“Safari Rally Kenya is a special challenge. To do well you need endurance, especially as the weather can be unpredictable and the roads are very rough, so altogether it is very hard to win there. On the stages it is a lot about the performance of the cars. Of course, with the current Rally1 cars there are places where you can’t be just fast and flat-out, but performance is still key.”

Having struggled with the i20 N Rally1 though Monte and Sweden, Tanak is hoping recent work on the car has helped improve that area.

He added: “The preparations and testing in Spain were important for us. At the last two rallies we’ve been struggling with the engine mapping, so it was crucial to get to high altitude to help things feel more comfortable for Kenya.”

Meanwhile, reigning FIA World Rally Champion Kalle Rovanpera will look to eclipse a miserable Rally Sweden with a strong outing The Finn has finished first and second in the past two editions of Safari Rally Kenya – a similar result next week would help make up for his 39th-place finish in the snow last month. Rovanpera’s round two effort went south when he damaged his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1’s radiator on the opening morning in Umea. Now he’s looking forward to Naivasha, and the unique challenge that is the Safari.

“It’s really exciting to go back to Kenya,” said the Finn. “It’s been quite a good rally for me and also for our team: we have got some really amazing results there. The atmosphere is also great so I’m really looking forward to it.

“It’s going to be interesting to go there at this time of the year, during the rainy season. We expect that it could be much muddier, and already in the previous years we have seen a bit of rain and it is always really tricky and slippery in those conditions.