Tänak targets German Tarmac treble

August 21, 2019 0 Comments

Ott Tänak goes into this weekend’s Rally Germany leading the FIA World Rally Championship – and having won there in both 2017 and ’18, the Estonian driver is aiming for a hat-trick of victories.

Co-driven by Martin Järveoja, Tänak arrives in Germany on 180 points, 22 more than second placed Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (Citroen C3 WRC), while Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 WRC) are a further three points behind in third. With five rounds of the series remaining (Germany, Turkey, GB, Spain and Australia) only one of these crews will be 2019 World Rally Champion.

Having won in Germany two years ago driving an M-Sport Ford Fiesta WRC, Tänak gave the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team Yaris WRC its maiden victory on asphalt there last year. And rest assured, the Tänak-Toyota combination will be very strong again this year on the high-speed stages that meander through the Mosel vineyards, blast through the fearsome Baumholder military training area and zig-zag along the Saarland region.

And having won four WRC events already this year, including last time out in Finland, victory number five could edge Tänak closer to his first ever world title.

“Germany is obviously a rally that I like a lot,” says Tänak. “Martin and I have won there two years in a row and our target this year is definitely to make it three. It’s certainly not an easy rally. I think last year was one of the most difficult wins in my career, as the competition was very strong and I had to push really hard from the beginning. It’s a big challenge for a driver to have so many different types of road in one rally, and to try to be fast on all of them and not make any mistakes. We know that the weather is often a big factor as well, and it can be very hard to predict.”

Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja wear Stilo WRC DES Zero 8860 helmets.