Tänak: “The job has been done”

Ott Tänak celebrated his first WRC victory at the Sardinia Rally où il s’est imposé avec une douzaine de secondes d’avance sur Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota). The pilot M-Sport est devenu le second Estonien après Markko Märtin à s’imposer dans le Championnat du monde des Rallyes, mais a conservé son calme après sa réussite.

“It’s obviously nice. Everyone asks me how I feel, but the truth is I didn't feel that many emotions after crossing the finish line., recognizes Ott Tänak. It was still difficult, we had to work a lot, the stages were long and the task was not easy. I feel the work has been done. We are only a private team and we have already achieved many podiums and several victories. »

Ott Tänak positions himself as a contender for the title as he climbs to 3rd place with one point ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota) and remains focused on his next performances.

“My position is not that good. I was really hoping to get more points with the Power Stage because I was hoping to start from 4th place in Poland (June 30-July 2) and that will make my life more complicated during the next event, but we continue to attack as we do. done since the start of the season, explains Ott Tänak. Our work has been quite good and consistent, constantly winning points. It’s important to keep the pace and the end of the season could be interesting. »

Ott Tänak also came back from his mistake in the last stage which almost cost him victory.

“I missed a turn, I went straight, comments Ott Tänak. We had a lot of dust in the car and it distracted me quite a bit. I had a hard time understanding what was happening. Visibility was very poor and we lost time. I concentrated very hard afterwards, continuing to attack and regained control in the following special. »

Malcolm Wilson, director of M-Sport, also welcomed Ott Tänak's victory which gave the British team its third success of the season and its second in a row after the victory of Sébastien Ogier au Rally from Portugal last month.

“It’s just the beginning for Ott and Martin (Järveoja, the co-driver), assures Malcolm Wilson. There is nothing better than a first victory and they achieved a perfect strategy and a very good performance over the entire weekend. They must be very proud of their achievement and I am sure many more victories will follow. »

Discover the analysis of the Sardinia Rally carried out by our special correspondents in issue 2118 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from Wednesday on newsstands.