Tänak drove the Central European Rally in last year’s Hyundai Rally1 car, believing it would perform better on tarmac than this year’s model.
The choice proved to be the right one. Tänak finished third overall in the Central European Rally and was in contention for second place for a long time.
In the end, Toyota’s Elfyn Evans claimed second place behind rally winner Kalle Rovanperä. Tänak left Central Europe with a total of 16 championship points.
“I would say we did everything we could, and I guess we need to be happy with this outcome,” Tänak summed up.
According to Tänak, driving the older car wasn’t a masterstroke of tactics, but rather a matter of necessity.
“To be honest, I didn’t have any other choice, because I could never try the 25 car — that was my only option,” Tänak said.
Tänak also confirmed that he will compete with the 2024 car in the Rally Japan at the beginning of November.
“We don’t have any testing, and also I haven’t driven the 25 on tarmac, so I really had no choice,” Tänak said.
Overall, Hyundai’s – already frustratingly familiar – problems continued in Central Europe. That, however, didn’t really surprise Tänak anymore.
“I guess in some ways it was also expected before the rally. So yeah, we knew what was coming, and that’s why I think we need to be happy. I hope we learned as much as we could,” Tänak said.
