Ott Tänak

AUTHOR: VERA VON MONIKA

Ott Tänak had a steady performance and the lead of WRC Vodafone Rally Portugal until he was forced to stop on Saturday's penultimate stage. Hitting the 250 stage wins in Portugal, the Estonian talked about his impression of WRC Rally Portugal in this exclusive interview.

Ott, what is your overall impression of this edition of Rally Portugal?

Event edition was mostly similar than it was back in 2019. The roads were in a very good condition and even on 2nd loop they didn’t get too rough so overall it was very enjoyable.

You were the rally leader, then a broken suspension on SS14 changed it... yet you hit the 250 stage wins here? Still makes rally Portugal special to you?

Ammount of stage wins are just the statistics in the end. Of course I have happy that we were able to improve our performance through the event and build a good lead by the end of Saturday.

Portuguese stages are demanding with fast slow sections and technical. What is your favourite stage of this rally and why?

Rallying is always a long demanding trip where you can’t win a rally by 1 stage so I normally never pick a favourite, but generally I do enjoy this fast nature of stages in Portugal!

Is there anything you did at this rally that you would do different next time?

I would like to finish a rally without any extra drama.

Hyundai i20 is a fast car, a car to win, you showed that even winning the Power Stage, but you have been unfortunate when it comes to winning a rally, what is it you think you need to consider or change for future victories including for future rally Portugal editions?

People back in factory have improved the car a lot to me so I could have fun driving the Hyundai, but in the future we also need to finish the rallys to win them.