The Latest Breaking News from Ott Tanak

The nine-time world rally champion contested four WRC rounds with M-Sport Ford last year, which included a memorable victory at Monte Carlo. The Frenchman also led in Portugal and Greece before being forced to retire.

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. 

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.  

Neuville and co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe enjoyed a relatively comfortable run through Sunday’s four stages to complete a 33 seconds victory from Hyundai team-mate Esapekka Lappi.

Despite holding a healthy 36.4s overnight lead, Neuville elected to push while the majority of his rivals opted to preserve their cars and tyres.

The eight-time world champion started the loop 0.1s adrift but ended with an 18.2s lead after the pair enjoyed a thrilling battle before Lappi's challenge began to unravel in the final two stages.

The Toyota driver, returning to the World Rally Championship after sitting out last month’s visit to Portugal, won two of three gruelling gravel stages to head to midday service with a 16.3s lead.

The championship has been pushing for a meeting with the series’ drivers to discuss the future direction of the category following Thierry Neuville’s comments in Portugal last month, where he declared the WRC needs to “change” to improve engagement with manufacturers, media and the fans.