Ott Tänak: “We are fine”

Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja will probably not soon forget their first test with Hyundai Motorsport en WRC. The world champion duo sent a wave of fear this Friday morning throughout the Gap paddock, in a violent and impressive leaving the road.

Following a compression in a very fast passage after 9,2 km in the SS4 of the Rally Monte Carlo, the #20 Hyundai i8 veered slightly to the right of the road, before taking off on an embankment and flying off in a terrifying series of rollovers, ending on a road below the special stage.

Very quickly, the images confirmed that Tänak and Järveoja had gotten out of the car themselves, before being taken care of by medical teams and transferred to Gap hospital to undergo check-ups.

Examinations which revealed nothing serious, the two Estonians being however placed as a precaution under observation for the night. “Martin and I are doing well, says Tänak. We are recovering well and will soon be in good shape. »

It was a very high speed accident, which happened quite surprisingly. This is an area that I had not identified during reconnaissance as being so tricky. These are things that happen in rallying, there is nothing new. I hadn't noticed any compression. »

Before this crazy caper with a happy ending, the world champion was in the leading quartet of the rally, with Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) et les deux Toyota by Elfyn Evans and Sébastien Ogier. Still discovering his new car in competition, Tänak already admitted to having progressed compared to the day before, where SS2 had been complicated.

“In the first special stages this morning with the car, we progressed step by step, Tänak analyzes. Last night, I didn't understand everything that was happening. During the night we managed to work a lot with the engineers and this morning the car was already behaving better.

Of course, it would have been nice to continue a little longer to improve the sensations and to adapt a little more, but that's how it is. We had a few heated moments before the accident.

This makes no difference for the upcoming program. We will continue as planned. I definitely want to go to Sweden, it's one of my favorite rallies. I don't know yet when I'm going to test. The season is long, but we must try to avoid problems over the next twelve rounds. »

Hyundai Motorsport remains in contention for victory with Thierry Neuville, 3rd and 16″ behind leader Elfyn Evans.