The ruthless Kenya rally saw five WRC cars taken out of action on Friday, which is why making it back to the service park in one piece was everyone's main goal on Saturday morning. While interesting meetings with the local wildlife marked the first half of the day, there was no great drama.

"We expected even tougher conditions today, while it has been quite smooth and there haven't been many surprises," Tänak said coming in for the lunch break.

"It seems like any other rally now, it was definitely much more demanding yesterday. We have introduced some map changes as it seems the organizers have added roadside rocks after the recce. Such artificial changes are never good, but it is what it is," Tänak said, repeating what other drivers had pointed out before.

"The roads are completely different from yesterday and seem to be staying in good condition. We hope there will not be many surprises," the Saaremaa rally driver said.

Neuville is 28.1 seconds ahead of Katsuta and 56.2 seconds ahead of Tänak before the service break. Sebastien Ogier, who won two of the morning's four special stages, is in fourth (+1:33.8), followed by M-Sport's Gus Greensmith and Adrien Fourmaux.

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