Ott Tänak has labeled his success on Rally Finland 2022 as his best World Rally Championship win, but not his greatest ever drive.
Tänak and Hyundai have endured a troubled campaign so far that peaked with a win on Rally Italy back in June, and came to Finland with low expectations following Toyota domination in Estonia three weeks earlier.
But a convincing 2.7-second stage win on Friday morning set the tone for Tänak’s weekend as he took over the lead from Thursday night street stage winner Thierry Neuville and never looked back – despite never feeling comfortable behind the wheel.
Tänak drove the nuts off his i20 N Rally1 to make his times stick, adopting a more aggressive driving style than he usually would and taking several risks in order to secure Hyundai’s first ever Rally Finland victory.
“It was a tough weekend, actually was a bit mentally difficult,” he told DirtFish. “There was a lot of pressure.
“At the beginning of the rally the Toyota boys gave us a little chance, so we saw some light at the end of the tunnel and since then when you are leading you always try to keep the position.
“We’ve been fighting hard, there’s been Elfyn [Evans] behind, Esapekka [Lappi] behind and Kalle [Rovanperä] behind, all of them trying. But we managed and it was not easy.
“I can’t say it’s really my best performance by driving but definitely the best win I’ve ever had.”
Tänak’s success was his third in Finland following back-to-back victories with Toyota in 2018 and ’19 but was certainly his hardest fought, as he fended off Rovanperä in the latter stages of the event.
Asked if it was his bravest performance to date, Tänak laughed: “Bravest and maybe a bit stupid as well, but it paid out.”
Toyota’s drivers had been suspicious that Tänak and Hyundai were deliberately downplaying their potential in Finland to try and psych them out, suggesting that the i20 N Rally1 wasn’t as difficult as had been claimed.
But Tänak insists that the earliest he thought the win was possible was Saturday lunchtime after he had successfully defended his overnight lead over Lappi.
“I was quite sure that on Saturday morning all the three Toyotas will just go past but then it was not happening,” he said.
“And then on Saturday afternoon in the rougher conditions we were able to fight back quite hard and Kalle was still not coming that much closer.
“This morning I was still not confident but for me the first stage was crucial and there I pushed hard and we managed actually to take some time and after this, it was just about managing.”
Tänak’s victory, his fourth for Hyundai and 16th of his career, lifts him to second in the world championship standings, albeit 94 points behind Rovanperä.
Hyundai trails Toyota by 88 points in the manufacturers’ race with five rounds remaining.
