The media zone isn’t traditionally where you get the best of Ott Tänak. But something changed in Gap.
Far smilier, engaged and thoughtful in his answering, Tänak cut a very different character at the Monte Carlo Rally.
And he was even honest enough to open up about one of his weaknesses: when the car’s not perfect, he’s not the best at getting the most out of it. We were seeing a very different version of Tänak in front of the microphone, but what about behind the wheel?
Tänak speed has never been in question, but the last time he’d been in the World Rally Championship service park, he was hardly flavor of the month (with his boss Cyril Abiteboul in particular) following that crash on the final morning of Rally Japan which opened the door for Toyota to steal the manufacturers’ title from Hyundai.
Later that Sunday, Abiteboul had promised he would attempt to “solve the riddle” with Tänak and work out exactly what it is he needs.
Abiteboul had a talk with Tänak after Japan and is confident improvements have been made
The key thing Abiteboul wanted to see from his driver was better judgement of risk vs reward, and on the evidence of the Monte, Tänak appears to have listened.
“We had a discussion after Japan,” Abiteboul told DirtFish.
“It was a short winter, but we did have a couple of discussions, which I hope, you know, had some influence on the way that he’s approaching rallies and the challenge that he can face.
“There is always some more work to be done, but indeed, I think everyone was very pleased to work with him over the course of the weekend. And I was myself very pleased to see him being very fast, you know, rocket fast [on Saturday] when he felt at one with the car, and accepting to let go when he knows that it’s going to mean too much risk.
“And the sort of risk versus reward approach is probably what he missed last year. That cost him lots of points. That cost us, also, lots of points as a manufacturer. So again, that’s clearly positive that I want to see.”
Tänak finds himself with a decent road position for Rally Sweden this week (fourth) and with two previous wins – as well as victory when Sweden was replaced by Arctic Rally Finland in 2021 – is expected to go well.
“Monte was full of surprises this year and we struggled to adapt immediately to the new tires in the changing conditions. This will still be a challenge in Sweden, but with no tire choice we just need to focus on maximizing our performance as quickly as possible,” he said.
“Road position plays a key role in Sweden, especially on the second loop of some stages, but aside from that, speed and performance are still the most important factors. We had a test day in December and another one after Monte-Carlo and so far it’s all been positive.
“There will be some big challenges, but we are feeling motivated ahead of the weekend – we are hoping to push for a strong result.”
Are we really seeing a refreshed Tänak this year? Sweden will provide more clues, but the 2019 world champion does have one man in his corner sure that he’s going to strike gold in 2025: his former boss, Andrea Adamo.
“Do I think Ott is ready to do it?” said Adamo on a recent edition of SPIN, The Rally Pod.
“I think so because I think there are scars from 2024 in him that are still painful, and the only way to seal them is to win this year.”
