L. MathekaSAFARI RALLY: Ott Tänak hoping to withstand tough challenge for a win
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Reading Time: 3min | Mon. 21.06.21. | 19:50
Sébastien Ogier has won three ( Monte-Carlo Rally in Southern France , Croatia Rally and Italia Sardegna) of the five events held, Tanak won the second leg of the WRC held in Finland while Elfyn Evans won in Portugal, the fourth event of the WRC calendar.
Hyundai Motorsport's 2019 World Rally Champion Ott Tänak says the Safari Rally, set to rev off at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) on Thurday, 24 June, is a special leg of the World Rally Championship (WRC) and his target remains picking a win despite the challenge.
The 33-year old will be hoping to forget his last two events' troubles as he tackles the Safari which has been touted as the toughest event in the WRC calendar.
2019 World Champion Ott Tanak is in Kenya and he did a recce today on the route ahead of the WRC Safari Rally that starts on Thursday to Sunday in Naivasha.#WRC #SafariRallyKenya pic.twitter.com/KxyRuNGiLY
— WRC RALLY_KENYA MEDIA (@rally_kenya) June 21, 2021
"This is my first time here and it is going to be a big challenge but I am looking forward to it. Being my first time I don't know what to expect on the route until we do the recce. I have seen some videos of the last time the WRC was held here but not so much. The approach is to win the rally and keep learning so this I not any different," said Tänak upon arrival in Kenya.
Tänak has had two events to forget at the WRC Vodafone Rally de Portugal held on May 20 to 23 mad during the WRC Rally Italia Sardegna from June 3 to 6 as he retired from both events.
He was in the lead at Rally Italia Sardegna but retired after swiping a rock on the penultimate day, Saturday 5 June, during a morning final speed test.
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The Estonian had dominated this fifth round of the WRC since Friday, 4 June, morning’s start and entered the second pass of the Lerno-Monti di Ala’ test with a comfortable 40.6sec advantage over Sébastien Ogier.
Just because it is the last Throwback Thursday before the return of the Deadbeat @wrcsafarirally, as they called it back then. Let's do a thread of the moments back then!#TwendeSafariRally #WRCSafariRally2021 pic.twitter.com/zl4fvzNFIe
— Safari Rally Kenya (@wrcsafarirally) June 17, 2021
He struck a rock on the inside of a left bend 8.9km into the 22.08km stage and quickly parked his Hyundai i20 World Rally Car with what appeared to be shattered rear suspension. He had suffering similar heartbreak in Portugal last month, whilst still in the lead.
Ogier benefited from Tänak's troubles as he managed to extend his lead after winning in Italy and is now on 106 points, 11 points ahead of Elfyn Evans who came second in Sardegna. Thierry Neuville is still in third (77 points), followed by Tänak who only scored four points in Italy for a total tally of 49.
After the Italy race, Tänak said he was happy with the pace of the car, while reliability still needs to be sorted out. "It is a fast can that needs to be made durable, and I'm sure we can do it," the Estonian told WRC.
Additional information from WRC
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