After being forced to retire on Friday, the Estonian driver returned to the rally stages of Kenya on Saturday morning, but the day began with several unexpected occurrences.
“Yeah, we had, unfortunately, some random things,” Tänak stated during the midday service.
One of the “random” incidents involved Tänak’s helmet intercom not functioning, requiring co-driver Martin Järveoja to switch from Estonian to sign language.
“Just before the start, Martin couldn’t find the wire for the intercom. Finally, we found it just a minute before the start,” Tänak recounted.
However, the problems didn’t end there.
“Then I noticed the bonnet pin was not in, so I had to go and close it. Then, in the middle of the stage, we didn’t have the intercom at all anymore, and it was a bit entertaining. Random small things but they still kept us busy,” Tänak explained.
Tänak was fortunate that the stages were already familiar, which mitigated the challenges of navigating without proper communication.
“If you drive this without knowing, it is tricky, so you have to keep your eyes open. But obviously, we raced on this stage before, so I remembered some bad places,” Tänak shared.
The morning loop concluded with the over 36-kilometer-long Sleeping Warrior stage, beginning with some muddy sections.
“Actually, the muddy sections were much more modest than I expected. We knew there were going to be some wet places, but the first corner was already quite a surprise,” Tänak commented.
Wildlife also posed challenges, with numerous animals encountered along the stage, including a zebra collision involving Tänak’s teammate, Esapekka Lappi.
“There were also issues with animals on the longest straight, making it feel like being in a very busy zoo. I lost a bit of time there. Then we just tried to keep the tires on the rim because the last 15 kilometers were very rough.”
Three more special stages are scheduled for Saturday at the Safari Rally, with the threat of rain ever-present.
“This is Kenya. Forecasting the weather here is very difficult. Normally, it rains every afternoon, so I don’t expect today to be any different,” Tänak anticipated.
