Toyota's Elfyn Evans leads Safari Rally Kenya after a dramatic Friday that saw early leader Ott Tanak hampered by mechanical issues. The challenging event, featuring eight brutal stages across the Great Rift Valley, proved treacherous with rocks, mud, ruts, and deep dust beds taking their toll on competitors.

Tanak dominated early with four stage wins and built a nearly one-minute lead before a driveshaft failure relegated his Hyundai i20 N Rally1 to rear-wheel drive only. He dropped to third, 55.4 seconds behind Evans.

Evans, who entered Kenya leading the championship by 28 points, delivered a steady performance in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1. Despite not winning any stages, his consistent pace and clean driving proved effective. His only issue was a right-rear tire deflation near the final stage's end.

Kalle Rovanpera holds second place, just 7.7 seconds behind Evans. The Finn's day was mostly trouble-free aside from a spin on Kedong 1 that cost him valuable time.

Thierry Neuville sits fourth despite multiple setbacks, including:

• One-minute penalty for delayed service departure
• 10-second penalty for jump start
• Tire issues
• 50-second penalty for stage lateness

In WRC2, Kajetan Kajetanowicz leads in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 after early pacesetter Oliver Solberg retired. Solberg had built a 40.3-second advantage before getting stuck in deep fesh-fesh sand. Gus Greensmith follows 10.2 seconds behind in his Skoda Fabia RS.

Saturday's leg features six stages covering 91 competitive miles, including two runs through the challenging 16.7-mile Sleeping Warrior stage.

Top 5 Overall Standings after Friday:

1. Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota) 2h00m45.4s
2. Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota) +7.7s
3. Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja (Hyundai) +55.4s
4. Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai) +1m31.4s
5. Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota) +3m26.4s

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