Friday evening provided something of a significant moment for Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja. The ceremonial start of Rally di Roma was the first time they’d worn Toyota overalls in public since Sunday October 27, 2019.
When the Estonians departed Toyota Gazoo Racing – and took their world championships with them – at the end of that season, there were plenty predicting they wouldn’t be darkening the Japanese manufacturers’ door again.
Wrong. As revealed by DirtFish earlier this year, Tänak has been an integral part of Toyota’s 2027 development.
But how does the team feel about him being back? Toyota’s technical director Tom Fowler worked closely with Tänak through his two seasons aboard a Yaris WRC –statistically the most successful period of his career with 10 wins from 26 starts.
Tänak made his first public appearance for Toyota since becoming world champion last weekend
“Ott Tänak is a legend,” Fowler told DirtFish. “I say that without a hint of irony. He absolutely is. The work he’s done with us this year, the test and development stuff has been amazing.
“When he was here before, there wasn’t so much development work to do – the 2017 car was up and running. But there was plenty of Tänak-specific stuff which he wanted to develop on our car through 2018. I’m not going into those specifics, but there were areas he really didn’t like and he worked, we worked, together and found a package which made him and us world champions.
“Having him back with us is great for the team. You know with Ott that you’re going to need some sort of translator. It will start with him saying: ‘The steering is s***.’ That means this steering system is suboptimal for the World Rally Championship and I would prefer that it’s improved. He’s a very straight talker.
“You know at some point he’s definitely going to tell you to f*** off and he might well offend some people, but his thinking is completely selfless – he’s only interested in helping the team and making the car faster. I can work with that.”
Tänak drove the GR Yaris Rally2 non-competitively at Rally di Roma, round three of this year’s European Rally Championship.
