Teammate Thierry Neuville, who is chasing his first championship, slipped off the road on the final stage of the morning and dropped to fourth place.
This opened a slim lifeline for Tänak, who then mounted a serious fight for the rally victory during the afternoon loop.
Tänak had a fierce battle with Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier in the afternoon but eventually lost by 5.2 seconds.
“We never expected it to be so wet, tricky, foggy, and humid. It was a challenging morning. The afternoon, actually, dried out again very quickly. So for the first stage, we still had a good setup for the car, but the next ones were already getting nice and clean. So there, we lacked a bit of speed, but otherwise, a solid afternoon,” Tänak reflected on his day.
Tänak still has a lot at stake on Sunday. He needs to score more points than Neuville to keep his championship hopes alive, at least in theory.
“Tomorrow we still need to keep pushing like we’ve done so far, and it’s important to score points tomorrow,” Tänak said.
The drivers’ title is still theoretically possible for Tänak, but the Estonian isn’t placing too much weight on that slim chance.
“I mean, the manufacturers’ championship is still open, and it’s really my first priority. The drivers’ title is still up in theory, depending on what happens with that. With the Toyotas being so fast at the moment, I need to try to manage with them,” Tänak explained.
“Still many points on the table for tomorrow, so definitely we need to keep going,” Tänak added.
