Rally Sweden leader Ott Tänak has told DirtFish he had left nothing in reserve on Friday’s morning stages and is therefore concerned he won’t be able to retain his lead in the afternoon.
The M-Sport driver is yet to win a stage on Friday, but yet he leads the rally by 2.1 seconds over Craig Breen with another Hyundai, Esapekka Lappi, a further two seconds behind.
But while Tänak is happy with the pace he has shown, he doesn’t think he will necessarily be leading when the day ends.
“I don’t know how much we want to take, but it’s all we can do at the moment,” Tänak said to DirtFish when it was suggested he was taking a measured approach.
“So yeah, for sure, we need to improve quite a bit if we want to keep the pace.
“I’m sure the other guys will be much faster on the second loop. But yeah, we need to keep going what we have.”
Asked how close to the limit he was on Friday’s opening three stages, Tänak admitted he couldn’t go any faster.
“No, I don’t have anything in reserve.
“But also, let’s say physically there is definitely more to come. But at the moment we can’t take it.
“So in short term it’s difficult to give much more.”
Lappi meanwhile suggested he had something left in the tank.
“For sure at this level you have to always push but I still feel there is still a small gap that, let’s say, I can do more – a little bit more not a big step for sure,” he told DirtFish.
“Yeah, let’s see can I do it in the afternoon.”
