Ever since the World Rally Championship season was launched in Monaco last Sunday, Ott Tänak has seemed a changed character.
Happier; more relaxed; more talkative.
But his Monte Carlo Rally wasn’t exactly going to plan after Friday. Lucky to get away with a trip through a ditch and collision with a telegraph pole with only cosmetic damage, Tänak was cut adrift of the lead battle.
Not anymore.
A mega Saturday (afternoon in particular) has transformed Tänak’s Monte.
Comfortably quickest through the leg by some 20.2s with four stages wins from six, all of a sudden Tänak is just 2.5s off the podium, and only another 4.3s off second.
But how? What did Tänak find to be able to completely dominate?
“I mean, this morning was actually very, very disappointing,” he told DirtFish.
“After the first stage, where we lost another 10 seconds, I was quite sure that we will not find any pace and it will be a difficult rally.
The 2019 champion was in imperious form on Saturday afternoon especially
“To be honest, the main thing has been that I didn’t get any kilometres on the new tire before the rally, especially the slick, you know, and I had no idea where to be with the car setup.
“Yeah… I’ve been just trying to understand during the first part of the rally, but I’ve been just looking.
“I would say this morning we started to understand the direction, but we couldn’t do all the changes on the road, so lunchtime we did quite many changes and immediately this afternoon it started to click.
“I could feel the car and have a balance and get some grip as well, so it was working.”
Tänak found the sweet spot, and was able to bring the best out of himself. But in a moment of self reflection, he admitted getting the most out of a car he’s not comfortable with is one of his few weaknesses.
“I would say it’s definitely… I can feel myself as well, it’s really my weak point, you know, if the car is not working I’m not able to deliver good times but obviously when it’s working I can really, you know, go in my rhythm and really enjoy and then the times are coming as well,” he said.
“We changed quite a bit on the chassis setup, you know, to get the chassis more working and to get the balance right basically.”
Weather could play a huge part on the final day of the Monte, with snow predicted to hit the famed Col de Turini.
On current form Tänak looks more than capable of overhauling both Elfyn Evans and team-mate Adrien Fourmaux ahead, but his strong speed today has been on day Tarmac.
“To be honest, every day has been a different rally. And as it’s a rally in Monte Carlo, I think tomorrow the rally for sure will surprise us,” he said.
“So we can’t take anything granted from today, and it’s a big chance it will all change again. So we will see where we are.
“But yeah, for sure, I would like to keep the rhythm I have.”