The Latest Breaking News from Ott Tanak

The reigning world champion delivered a perfect start to Saturday’s high-speed gravel stages to extend his overnight advantage to 20.3s over Neuville, who lost time to a slow puncture.

The Toyota driver appeared to make light work of opening the roads to end the day with a slender 3.0s lead over Neuville. 

The Ford squad has been absent from the WRC podium since Ott Tanak finished second in Croatia back in April, a result which was then followed by the Estonian finishing fourth in Portugal before an electrical fault robbed him of a top 10 result in Sardinia. 

Top Performer - Sebastien Ogier and Vincent Landais

The eight-time world champion and co-driver Vincent Landais came under pressure from championship leader Rovanpera across Sunday’s final six stages to clinch his third win of a partial 2023 WRC campaign by 6.7s. The margin was the closest in the event’s 70-year history.

The Toyota duo continued an enthralling head-to-head as championship leader Rovanpera applied pressure on long-time leader Ogier to reduce the gap to 13.6s with three stages remaining. 

Eight-time world champion Ogier started Saturday with a 22.8s lead and the Toyota driver went on to stamp his authority on the event in the afternoon.

The eight-time world champion came through challenging damp and muddy conditions to preserve his lead, although Ogier's overnight advantage over championship leader Rovanpera was cut by 0.7s to 22.1s.

The rally has prided itself on being one of the WRC’s jewel in the crown events given its difficulty to win. Its unique stages feature a mix of rough gravel and soft sandy roads sprawled across Kenya’s iconic wildlife-filled savannah. amid changeable weather, poses an altogether different challenge for crews.