Ott Tänak admitted it was “heartwarming” to see his fellow Estonians out and enjoying the Viru Rally stages on Saturday.
The reigning World Rally Champion received a predictably warm welcome at the Rakvere-based event, where he scored a dominant maiden win with Hyundai Motorsport.
“Normally when you are going to an Estonian national event, you see some people on the stages, but you don’t see them coming from their houses to watch on the road sections,” Tänak told DirtFish.
“It was actually quite heartwarming to see so many people, so many grandfathers and grandmothers out with their grandchildren, coming from the houses to look what was going on and to see the cars pass.
“This has been a long time [in lockdown] for many people and it was nice for them to see something different from their everyday lives. I think everyone has had a nice day.”
Tänak admitted precautions would have to be taken on future rounds of the WRC rounds when it came to crowds.
“This was the first point, the first place for the restart of the continuation of the sport,” he said. “And we are now in a different situation in the world and we have to know how to manage this situation.
“Coronavirus will go on for some time, we never know when it will end. It’s better to take the line to manage with coronavirus as a friend who needs to be handled nicely and managed. When we have the 20 kilometer (12 mile) stages then we have the space [to spread people out].”
Tänak will of course have the opportunity to drive in front of his home fans again this year, as Rally Estonia is one of the five scheduled rounds filling out the 2020 WRC calendar.
