Rally Kenya returned to the WRC calendar in 2021 and is a particularly extensive and challenging, 368-kilometer course. Whereas last year's race took place in June, this year the rally has been brought forward to spring to avoid the rainy season.

The race, round three of the 2024 season, has in any case proved a tough one so far. Tänaks' teammate at Hyundai, Thierry Neuville, damaged a tire and part of the rear of the car on stage three Friday and he and his co-driver had to don ski goggles and an anti-dust mask, due to the amount of detritus blown into the interior after the prang.

Ahead of the race, Tänak called it a "special challenge," with unpredictable weather, high altitudes and much depending on how the Hyundai i20 holds out.

"We're facing a very tough rally. Our first goal is to finish the rally without major issues, though we're certainly expecting a lot of stress. We're hoping for some luck with the weather and that both the car and ourselves are durable," he went on.

Tänak's teammate, Belgian Thierry Neuville, leads the WRC table going into Rally Kenya with 48 points, having won in Monte Carlo and come second in Sweden.

Tänak is meanwhile in fifth place in the table, with 21 points after two rounds.

In Kenya, Tänak and co-driver Martin Järveoja were fifth-fastest in the initial shakedown run on the Wednesday, a stage led by Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota).

Thursday brought a short spectator test which started in dramatic fashion when local WRC2 driver Samman Singh Vohra left the road on a left-hand bend nearing the end of the stage, rolling his car twice in an accident.

This created a delay of several minutes, during which time some adjustments to the starting order were made.

Once the test had resumed, the Hyundai drivers put in the strongest performances, including Tänak, who finished second with Ott Tänak second and just 0.1 seconds behind Neuville.

Overall, the Estonian went into day two, Friday, the first full day of competition, in third place, but the withdrawal of Hyundai teammate Esapekka Lappi on stage five bumped him up to second place.

However, on the very next stage, the last of the day, the Hyundai hit a rock 3.2 kilometers out, throwing the car onto a roadside mound. Tänak was unable to extricate the vehicle from this pickle, and so had to withdraw for the rest of the day.

If Thursday had been Hyundai's day, Friday was Toyota's time to shine. Reigning champion Kalle Rovanperä (Finland) won all six speed tests on Friday and going into Saturday's stages led Welshman Elfyn Evans, by 56.9 seconds overall; Japan's Takamoto Katsuta was in third place, a few seconds later.

Saturday's stages are already underway and started at 7.01 a.m. Estonian time. There are seven in total, with the last beginning a little after 3.30 p.m. Estonian time. Tänak is rejoining the race Saturday after Friday's time out.

Rally Kenya continues Sunday, the final day as standard at WRC events. ERR's Estonian-language sport portal carries a live-blog of the proceedings.

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