Ott Tänak and his long-term mentor and business partner Markko Märtin have parted company.
As well as working together on the management of the 2019 World Rally champion’s career progression and direction, the two Estonians were partners in the RedGrey preparation firm and rally team originally established by Märtin.
Märtin, who hasn’t been present in a WRC service park since the end of last season, has sold his share in RedGrey and will not have any further involvement in the sport.
Five-time world rally winner Märtin told DirtFish: “Of course there’s some sadness after 17 years, but things don’t last forever and I learned the valuable lesson that, sometimes, no good deed goes unpunished…”
The day-to-day running of the Tallinn-based RedGrey team will not be impacted by Märtin’s departure.
Tänak said: “It was his decision to leave motorsport generally and to do something different with the rest of his life. This [decision] included RedGrey. Together with RedGrey team, we found a solution to continue with the business, and improve it day by day.
“We’ve been able to keep the company going quite smoothly, we have strengthened the structure of the company – we hired more people at the start of the year and I would say we are improving and it’s all going nicely.”
