Tänak fought for the win against Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier but ultimately had to settle for second place. However, thanks to the new WRC points system, the Estonian driver, who excelled on Sunday, collected the most points over the weekend.
Teammate Thierry Neuville is still leading the championship. Tänak, currently in third place, trails Neuville by 31 points after five rounds. Tänak heads into the upcoming Sardinia event from a more favourable starting position. Looking ahead, Tänak favours the fast summer gravel rallies in Poland, Latvia, and Finland.
“I would say we had a good and solid weekend in Portugal, so we want to build on that and it’s a bit easier now that we have more pace,” Tänak says.
“Sardinia has some big challenges, it can be very slippery and hard to get the necessary amount of grip. That paired with the very hot temperatures makes everything much more of a challenge.”
Hyundai has traditionally performed well on the Mediterranean island. According to Tänak, finding the right settings is crucial.
“Running the same tyres over the first and second loop makes it harder to put a strong package together, so we need a lot of traction from the setup, especially when we start early on the road,” Tänak explains.
Tänak is aiming for his first win of the season in Sardinia. The top spot was close in Portugal, but the entire package didn’t hold together until the finish.
“It’s an event where rallying is a lot more interesting and I always prefer that. We were very close to the win in Portugal before the puncture ruined it, so our plan is to do better this time in Sardinia.”
The Rally Sardinia starts on Friday morning with a shakedown. The event features a total of 16 special stages, covering approximately 266 kilometres.
