Tänak sought to gain speed for Latvia from his home country of Estonia, where he intended to drive the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 car in a test competition. Tänak’s kilometres in the competition were cut short as he crashed heavily on the second special stage.
As a precaution, Hyundai called in Andreas Mikkelsen, who shares responsibility in the team’s third car, to Latvia. The Norwegian driver was ready to stand in for Tänak if the Estonian didn’t get the green light to compete from the medical check.
In the end, Mikkelsen wasn’t needed as Tänak received a clean bill of health and got up to speed in Thursday morning’s shakedown.
“Everything was working well, so I still appreciated Andreas coming here just as a backup,” Tänak thanked his teammate.
Tänak was in top form right away in the shakedown, clocking the fastest time of the group. He is one of the top favourites to win the competition, alongside Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä.
“It takes some kilometres again to get into the rhythm and to get the feeling. I would say the second run on the shakedown was already a bit better. On the first run, I was still hesitating a bit, but I guess it’s normal, and that’s what the shakedown is for,” Tänak said.
One of the hot topics of Rally Latvia has been the wooden anti-cutting barriers erected in many of the corners. Thursday’s shakedown showed how the poles took a beating, particularly from Tänak’s teammate Thierry Neuville.
Read also and watch the video: That was close! Thierry Neuville’s dramatic moment in Rally Latvia shakedown
According to Tänak, the anti-cutting barriers and numerous artificial chicanes disrupt the natural flow of the roads.
“Clearly, here they have many of them. They put them everywhere, including in the chicanes. It doesn’t always seem to be about safety. It looks more like it’s to make the average speed look better on paper,” Tänak assessed.
“But altogether, also for the organiser, it’s good to keep the road in good shape. In the end, it’s also better for the drivers that the road is not evolving so quickly,” Tänak pointed out.
Before the start of Rally Latvia, Tänak is third in the points standings, 21 points behind his teammate Thierry Neuville. In the previous event in Poland, Tänak had to retire after hitting a deer, so he is eager for big points in Latvia to boost his WRC campaign.
“We need to do well, for sure. Poland didn’t work out so well. We’d like to have a bit smoother ride here,” Tänak said.
Rally Latvia starts with an 11-kilometre spectator stage on Thursday evening.
