It’s no exaggeration to say Tänak was the moral winner of the rally. No one could match the Estonian’s pace throughout the weekend.
Up until Saturday evening, Tänak was the clear favourite to win. But then fate intervened. The power steering on his Hyundai failed, robbing the 2019 world champion of a deserved victory. That opened the door for Toyota’s Sébastien Ogier, who seized the opportunity and claimed his seventh career win on Portuguese gravel.
Rally Portugal was Tänak’s strongest performance of the season so far.
“Maybe the first day was not strong enough yet, but yesterday and today, felt good,” Tänak told RallyJournal.com.
“I felt good in the car and I could enjoy it while also pushing myself,” he added.
Of course, there was nothing anyone could do about the steering failure. Technical problems have always been – and will always be – part of motorsport.
“Very unfortunate, but I mean, there’s really nobody else to blame. Nothing to do with luck either – just a bit too fragile, I guess,” Tänak summed up.
Still, Tänak walked away from Portugal with a strong haul of 27 points and improved his position in the title race. The Estonian is now fourth in the drivers’ championship, 34 points behind Toyota’s Elfyn Evans, who leads the standings.
“Genrally it’s still a still a positive weekend, and we take it,” Tänak noted.
Fans had been longing for Tänak to rediscover his speed – and they got it this weekend. The old Ott is back, and without doubt, he was the strongest performer throughout the rally. The moral winner.
“Unfortunately, that doesn’t bring points. In a way very frustrating. I really hate losing,” Tänak said bluntly.
“Portugal is a special rally for me, one I really enjoy. And since a long time, this weekend we were able to enjoy being in the car, and I could more or less do what I wanted. So it was fun. But I mean we’re just a bit too fragile at the moment to really win the rally,” he criticised.
Hyundai had clearly made progress since the previous WRC round. The team had very little to show from the Rally Islas Canary Islands.
“Definitely enjoyed it much more than in Canarias. And the speed is there, so we need to build on that,” Tänak said.
The next WRC round will take place in June in Sardinia. Toyota has won every rally so far this season, but that has to change now. In Sardinia, Tänak will benefit from a better road position compared to his main rivals – giving him a real chance to attack from behind.
“Definitely. Still, it’s been only Toyotas winning rallies this year, so it’s kind of the last moment to turn it around,” Tänak demanded.
