However, Tänak’s preparation for the rally did not go as planned, as he had a severe off-road crash during a test rally just over a week ago. Tänak’s Hyundai i20 N Rally1 car was so badly damaged that teammate Thierry Neuville‘s planned test race last weekend also had to be cancelled.
Like Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä, Tänak has extensive experience on Latvian gravel roads. In the early stages of his career, Tänak raced a lot in the Baltics, but he hasn’t had recent experience there.
“I like driving these types of profiles, but while I have competed at this event in the past I haven’t been there for over ten years,” Tänak explains.
“The roads are very similar to what we have seen in previous rounds such as Poland, where we had a very successful Sunday, and surface-wise it is comparable to our home event in Estonia.”
Tänak needs an excellent result, as his journey in Poland ended on Friday morning due to a collision with a deer. The points from Sunday were a consolation, but his gap to teammate Thierry Neuville in the championship has grown to 21 points. It’s clear that Tänak must significantly close the gap to his teammate in Latvia and the following Rally Finland to keep his championship hopes alive.
“We weren’t able to demonstrate our full potential in Poland after our retirement on Friday, so hopefully Latvia will be a smoother ride,” Tänak summarizes.
“It is hard to say what to expect from the weekend but we will try to extract the most out of Rally Latvia.”
The Rally Latvia starts on Thursday morning with a shakedown. The actual competition begins on Thursday evening in the capital, Riga.
The rally features a total of 20 special stages, covering approximately 300 kilometres.
