Every child has the dream. Whether it’s a Briton striding out onto Centre Court for a Wimbledon final or an American landing the longest Hail Mary pass in Superbowl history, every child has had that dream.
Ott Tänak’s version of that dream will come true in September, when he drives his Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC in Estonia’s first ever round of the World Rally Championship.
September’s Rally Estonia was announced as the next WRC round at a speciallt-convened press conference in Tallinn on Thursday.
“It’s definitely something special to do this,” Tänak told DirtFish.
“For a few years, with all the Estonian fans coming to places like Finland, it definitely feels close to home over there, considering the travel time, but really, there is no place quite like the home.”
Photo: Jaanus Ree / Red Bull Content Pool
While Tänak grew up and cut his teeth on the Estonian roads – especially those on the island of Saaremaa – he knows he’ll be in for the biggest fight yet when the September 3-6 event starts.
He added: “I’m sure home support will give me some extra horsepower, but on that level nothing comes easy and there are actually many drivers, who have been driving around here, so we need to do our very best anyway.”
“But at the same time, we know it’s going to be a fast rally and we also know we have some work to do as a team on this kind of event. Every team member has been working hard to give us the best tools to fight and I believe they have done a good job.”
The only remaining question is about how Tänak’s dream ends. Does he catch the Hail Mary pass, does he take the title in straight sets, does he win the inaugural Rally Estonia? We’ll see. But if he doesn’t, it won’t be for a lack of support.
