- Tanak signed with M-Sport Ford at the start of the season
- He is yet to ever win the Safari Rally
- The Safari Rally is scheduled for June
Having already tasted the rigours of Naivasha “fesh fesh” twice behind the wheel of a Hyundai i20, 2019 World Rally Champion Ott Tanak will return to the iconic WRC Safari Rally Kenya reenergized than ever before.
The Estonian has tackled two Safaris in the i20 Rally1 marque finishing third behind winner Sebastien Ogier and Takamoto Katsuta in 2021 and retiring with power steering gremlins in 2022.
But experts remain uncertain whether or not the former champion is the right man to lead M-Sport Ford to its first WRC Safari Rally glory in the Rally1 hybrid era.
Tanak had to contend with playing second fiddle after a frustrating 2021 campaign which saw him rack up more stage wins than any of his race adversaries, only for victories to slip from his grasp due to reliability issues.
Former Kenyan Two Wheel Drive Champion Dennis Mwenda believes the desire for Tank to prove Puma’s potential on the planet’s toughest gravel in Kenya may turn out to be tricky.
Tricky to call
“So far the Puma has been unreliable in the few rallies that Tanak has raced in. Last year, as well, Ford had issues on Safari. So it will be tricky in my opinion. Hard to call,” Mwenda noted.
Tanak has yet to lay his hands on the coveted Safari title but on a good day, the Estonian could possess the pedigree to propel M-Sport Ford to dizzying heights.
The former champion inked a deal at the start of the season which reunited him with M-Sport Ford, the team that helped to launch his World Rally career.
It was at M-Sport that the 35-year-old earned a first top flight podium finish and a maiden victory.
Hoping for a maiden Safari victory
Tanak knows M-Sport inside out, and will be returning to the fabled Safari to chase two facets of his 2023 goals- to chalk up outright victory in Kenya and indeed score the all-important championship points at stake on Safari.
The Estonian speedster has one win so far achieved in 2023 at the championship’s all-snow fixture in Sweden. Tabak finished second in Croatia, 9th in Mexico and fifth in the season-opening Rallye Monte Carlo in France. He currently sits 4th on the 2023 WRC log behind the Toyota Gazoo Racing trio of Ogier Elfyn Evans and Kalle Rovanpera.
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