The most gruelling event on the WRC calendar began with its traditional Kasarani side-by-side super special [4.84km] in the centre of the Kenyan capital city Nairobi. Neuville came out on top with a 0.1-second margin over Tanak.
Neuville took on Toyota title rival Elfyn Evans in their heat, which resulted in the former posting a time 1.7s faster than the Welshman.
“It will be a challenging event. Our fingers are crossed that, this time, we get through without any technical problems or mistakes,” said Neuville. “I think we are well-prepared and I am feeling good in the car, so it’s always good to start a rally like this.”
Hyundai opted to tackle the stage, which featured a couple of water splashes without a snorkel device, while Toyota and M-Sport Ford elected to fit their newly designed intake systems.
The devices were not severely tested as conditions were largely dry, barring the man-made water splashes.
Neuville’s time was ultimately 0.1s faster than Tanak, who defeated M-Sport’s Adrien Fourmaux by 2.1s in their head-to-head.
“The first thing in my mind is to get through without too much trouble,” said Tanak. “For sure, there will be some stress at times, and with the weather we need luck on our side.”
Two-time world champion Kalle Rovanpera emerged as the best placed Toyota in third overall, 0.8s adrift of pacesetter Neuville.
The Finn, making the second start of his partial campaign, was the second Rally1 car into the stage and as a result he expected his time to be eclipsed as the road cleaned with every pass. Rovanpera comfortably beat M-Sport’s Gregoire Munster in their heat.
“It’s nice to see all the fans here. It was so slippy and there was no line after the smaller cars,” said Rovanpera. “This rally is not won on the first stage anyway. It’s going to be a challenging week, but we will do our best.”
Rovanpera’s team-mate Takamoto Katsuta pipped Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi by 0.6s to sit fourth overall, while Evans slotted into sixth behind Lappi. Fourmaux ended the stage in seventh overall, 2.2s behind Neuville.
Gus Greensmith was the fastest of the Rally2 runners, the British driver, kicking off his 2024 season, was 2.4s faster than Oliver Solberg.
Greensmith did have the advantage of a cleaner road following a late order shuffle from organisers, which meant he ran after the Rally1 cars. Solberg clocked his time having been one of the first drivers to enter the stage.
The top Rally1 and Rally2 runners were delayed in starting the stage after local driver Samman Singh Vohra rolled his Skoda Fabia.
Vohra ran wide into a long, left hander which resulted in the Fabia hitting an earth mound, triggering a soft roll. Driver and co-driver were unhurt while the car suffered cosmetic damage.
The crews will head north-west from Nairobi to Lake Naivasha to contest six stages on Friday.
