A choice finally paying off for Ott Tänak?

Just crowned with the title of 2019 world champion, Ott Tänak was surprised when leaving the Toyota Gazoo Racing for Hyundai. Since then, he has never really explained the reasons for this decision. The one that is most often put forward refers to a growing disagreement with Tommi Mäkinen who was then the boss at Toyota. Andrea Adamo, who headed the sports structure of the Korean giant, must have undoubtedly also given a speech that pleased Tänak. The results of this marriage did not live up to expectations and relations between the two parties became very complicated in 2022. The Baltic became more and more impatient with the inaction and slowness of decisions. Seeing him leave Hyundai surprised no one, just as there was nothing new about his reluctance to comment on the three years spent in blue sky. His base point was also quite logical since he ultimately only had the choice between a break at home or M-Sport.

His return to the cocoon where he grew up and achieved his first world success aroused enthusiasm, because it opened the prospect of having at least one contender for the team title. This came to fruition this winter. In the typical Monte-Carlo circuit conditions, Tänak aimed for the best possible place, lacking too many benchmarks to hope for better. In Sweden, his tactics based on regularity paid off as he won. He is the leader of the championship, but don't tell him that he is now among the favorites, otherwise you will get a scathing rebuke.

There are indeed too many unanswered questions. Lacking resources, the English company has made very few changes to its car compared to the one seen at Monte-Carlo 2022. So far this has not seemed to bother Tänak too much. Will the Cumbria team be able to provide equipment that is both efficient and reliable to the Estonian who can turn out to be irascible when things don't go his way? In Sweden, no one at M-Sport was fooled and Malcolm Wilson immediately recognized that this success was Ott's. So it's good that the car needs to receive some upgrades. The opponents of the 2019 champion will not prove clumsy or inconsistent every time. Kalle Rovanperä will not always have to lead the way and it is certain that the Toyota team will react after the edge fault suffered in Umeå. Tänak's strategy worked in Sweden, but it already has its limits and the Puma urgently needs to be improved.

If the driver from the island of Saaremaa can be satisfied to see that everything is implemented for him and that he constitutes the sole concern of M-Sport, will he nevertheless receive all the changes that he wish ? This is where one of the questions regarding this association lies and Tänak does not want to get carried away. “ Our start to the season is good, perhaps even better than that which we expected. However, there remains a lot of work and everything will depend on what the team will be able to introduce and when. »

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