For the second year in a row, Ott Tänak is on the move.
After leaving Hyundai for M-Sport last year, the 2019 world champion is now making that same move in reverse as he rejoins Hyundai for 2024.
It’s but the latest move for Tänak who’s been one of the most active drivers in the driver market in recent years.
But how has he ended up going back to Hyundai, just under 12 months after he announced he was leaving it?
To answer that, here’s a reminder of the Estonian’s career moves and how well they went.
M-Sport (2012)
Rallies: 13
Wins: 0
Podiums: 1
After impressing in Pirelli’s Star Driver scheme at the wheel of a Mitsubishi in 2010, and subsequently pushing eventual champion Juho Hänninen hard in the following year’s SWRC, Tänak was awarded a drive in a DMACK-backed Ford Fiesta RS WRC for Rally GB 2011.
An impressive sixth overall earned him a place in Ford’s second team, then called M-Sport, alongside Evgeniy Novikov for 2012.
Tänak’s speed was impressive but he found himself off the road far too much for Malcolm Wilson’s liking, who had his patience sorely tested.
So although Tänak bagged a maiden WRC podium in Sardinia that year, he was shown the door at the end of the season.
M-Sport (2015)
Rallies: 13
Wins: 0
Podiums: 1
Following that maiden WRC season, Tänak effectively disappeared from the international scene and drove a Subaru in the Estonian championship for a year.
Returning to the WRC for 2014 with a WRC2 campaign with DMACK, which included select WRC car outings, his performances was sufficient enough to convince M-Sport (now without an official Ford-named team) to welcome Tänak back into the fold for 2015 as Elfyn Evans’ team-mate following the retirement of Mikko Hirvonen.
It was clear Tänak had turned a corner, and he showed his prowess particularly on the high-speed gravel with a fine third place in Poland.
But 2015 is a season perhaps best remembered for that infamous TiTänak moment, where Tänak’s Fiesta was submerged in a Mexican lake but he miraculously was able to restart and finish the rally.
DMACK (2016)
Rallies: 13
Wins: 0
Podiums: 2
M-Sport completely changed its driver direction for 2016, as it hired Mads Østberg and Eric Camilli instead. But while Evans was shuffled down to R5 power, Tänak was at least able to remain in the WRC thanks to a program with the DMACK World Rally Team.
And 2016 proved to be, by far, the Estonian’s most impressive WRC campaign to date.
The heartbreak of Poland is well remembered, where Tänak held a comfortable lead over Andreas Mikkelsen’s Volkswagen but punctured on the penultimate stage and was forced to accept a gut-wrenching second.
But Tänak’s performance on Rally GB later that year was also stellar, as he kept world champion Sébastien Ogier under immense pressure throughout the entire contest to miss out on the win by just 10.2 seconds.
It was time for Tänak to step back up…
M-Sport (2017)
Rallies: 13
Wins: 2
Podiums: 7
Ogier ended up becoming Tänak’s team-mate, as the Frenchman and Estonian led the line for M-Sport as the new era of World Rally Cars was ushered in for 2017.
M-Sport’s Fiesta WRC immediately proved to be a winner, and Tänak was more than up to the task. Two podiums from his first two starts was strong, but then the monkey was finally off Tänak’s back with a breakthrough win on round seven in Sardinia.
That opened the floodgates as Tänak almost won in Poland before he mastered a very tricky Rally Germany to record a first asphalt win.
By now his stock was on the rise, and the offers from rival teams were coming in…
Toyota (2018-2019)
Rallies: 26
Wins: 10
Podiums: 15
After some deliberation, Tänak decided to join Toyota for the 2018 season. It proved to be a masterstroke, as Tänak’s time in a Yaris WRC remains his most prosperous in the WRC.
Over a two-year spell, Tänak scored 10 victories from 26 starts and was on the podium more times than he was off it.
He came incredibly close to a maiden world title in 2018 – recovering from a sluggish start to win three rallies on the bounce (Finland, Turkey and Germany). Tänak led in Wales too before a hard landing in Sweet Lamb sidelined his Yaris.
But one year later Tänak delivered on his potential and became the first driver not named Sébastien to win the WRC title in 16 years.
Tänak and Toyota was a partnership that was genuinely feared by the rest, but the Estonian had his struggles with team management at the time. So on the Rally Spain weekend where he ultimately became world champion, that wasn’t the only story in town…
Hyundai (2020-2022)
Rallies: 31
Wins: 5
Podiums: 16
That’s because it was revealed that Tänak was off to Hyundai for the 2020 season instead. A bombshell move, and one he may question with the benefit of hindsight.
Tänak’s Hyundai spell didn’t exactly get off to the best of starts with a monster shunt at the Monte Carlo Rally, but his next three events were strong with two second places and a maiden Hyundai win at home in Estonia.
But throughout what we can now call his first spell in blue and orange, Tänak never quite managed to mount a serious championship challenge.
His 2021 season was particularly difficult – typified by two suspension failures while leading on back-to-back events in Portugal and Sardinia – and Hyundai’s slow start to the new hybrid Rally1 regulations made a title tilt impossible; even if Tänak’s mid-season form last year was sensational with a run of five consecutive podiums including two wins.
But frustrated at Hyundai’s (lack of) management, the 2019 world champion sought pastures new for 2023 and found refuge in an old home.
M-Sport (2023)
Rallies*: 11
Wins*: 2
Podiums*: 3
Tänak’s return to M-Sport this season was billed as a homecoming, but unfortunately it failed to yield the happy ending both team and driver craved.
For the first time since he’d won the title Tänak did lead the championship after round two in Sweden though, thanks to an impressive and unexpected victory.
But turbo problems on the first gravel stage of México kickstarted a negative spiral where Tänak both struggled to fully gel with the Puma Rally1 and encountered mechanical problems that blunted his challenge.
But the potential was still clear, as he did win in Chile as recently as last weekend.
That, however, was too little, too late for Tänak who will sensationally rejoin the Hyundai team he walked away from with a year still remaining on his contract.
*so far
