Tänak’s WRC title challenge fires up

April 30, 2018 0 Comments

Ott Tänak’s challenge for the FIA World Rally Championship Drivers’ title is well and truly on after he jumped to third in the Drivers’ standings after winning the Rally of Argentina.

Co-driving by Martin Järveoja, it was the Estonian driver’s first win with Toyota in only his fifth event in the Yaris WRC.

Tänak took the lead in South America on the first full day and won 10 stages across Friday and Saturday before controlling his lead over notoriously tough stages on Sunday, finishing 33.7 seconds clear of the competition.

“It is very special to take my first win with the team,” said Tänak. “We have been improving the car very quickly, and it is now pretty much how I like it. It has been giving me great confidence. It is also great to see how much the team has been supporting me. To dominate a rally like this for the first time is very nice, but it has definitely not been easy. Earlier in the weekend I was pushing a lot. As the gap was growing it was possible for us to control it more and more, and today we were more on the safe side. The direction is good and we are closing up in the championship. It is still fairly early in the season, so now we just need to keep going in the same way in the coming rallies.”

It was a good event for Hyundai Motorsport, with Power Stage winners Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul finishing second and team-mates Dani Sordo/Carlos del Barrio third, ahead of fourth-placed defending world champions Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia. Andreas Mikkelsen/Anders Jaeger were fifth in another i20 Coupe WRC, while Elfyn Evans/Daniel Barritt were the best placed British crew home in sixth in their Fiesta WRC.

Ogier continues to lead the WRC Drivers’ standings. He’s now on 100 points, 10 points ahead of Neuville, with Tänak third on 72 points.

Pontus Tidemand/Jonas Andersson won WRC2 and finished 10th overall in their ŠKODA Fabia R5. Kalle Rovanperä/Jonne Halttunen had led WRC2, but rolled their Fabia R5.

Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja wear Stilo WRC Zero helmets.