So far, Tänak and Hyundai’s season has been rather underwhelming. Toyota has dominated the early stages of the championship, claiming victory in all four previous rounds.
Tänak isn’t overly optimistic that things will suddenly take a turn for the better in Portugal.
“Difficult to say, I guess. After shakedown, it’s quite a Mickey Mouse section, so I guess we’ll get the big picture tomorrow,” Tänak remarked.
Hyundai’s previous outing on the Canary Islands’ asphalt went badly off course. Fortunately for them, there are no more asphalt rallies coming up in the immediate future. Still, it’s clear that the team must eventually resolve its tarmac struggles as well.
“I mean, I think it’s not such a straightforward story. But generally, it just needs a bit more work in the background to understand the tyre a bit more. So yeah, I guess it’s a bigger topic than on gravel,” Tänak explained.
Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä has repeatedly voiced concerns this season over the performance of the WRC’s new tyre supplier, Hankook. The Finn has said that the tyres don’t suit his natural driving style at all.
But Rovanperä is not alone in this. Tänak, too, is among the drivers critical of the Hankook tyres.
“The tyre is super complicated – not driver-friendly at all. So yeah, it’s demanding. But yeah, that’s what we have, so we need to maximise it,” Tänak said plainly.
Both the tyres and the drivers will face a serious test on Friday – the longest day of the rally. The schedule includes ten special stages and two remote service stops, with the cars not returning to the service park until well after sunset.
“Obviously we need to try our best. Again, it’s been raining so far, but normally rain is a positive thing before the rally, as it should pack the surface quite well and hopefully the roads last.
I mean, last year it was actually quite a similar situation – it was fair between the drivers, not so much cleaning, and the roads stayed in good shape on the second loop as well. If it’s the same story this year, that would definitely be positive,” Tänak anticipated.
Tänak has yet to take a victory this season. Naturally, winning remains the goal, but the Estonian admitted it’s too early to assess his chances.
“I think it’s impossible to say, obviously – we haven’t done any stages, and we have no idea where we are or where the others are. We need to do a proper stage to understand. Normally I’d imagine we’re all quite close together, and the gaps should be small – because most of us know the stages very well. It should be tight,” Tänak predicted.
