Tänak made a mistake on Friday, which dropped him out of the victory battle, and the rest of the rally was spent getting acquainted with the car.
Of course, not all was lost.
“It didn’t go very consistently, but let’s say we made it through the rally. There was a lot to learn, but it didn’t go too badly,” Tänak summed up the Monte weekend.
Tänak is one of the championship favourites this season, and the Estonian couldn’t be satisfied with fourth place and 15 championship points.
However, Tänak will have another opportunity soon, as Rally Sweden is scheduled for mid-February.
“It’s coming up pretty quickly. We need a bit more testing and hopefully we’ll be better prepared for it than we were for Monte,” Tänak said.
How confident are you about Sweden?
“We’ll see in Sweden. You can’t know beforehand,” Tänak responded briefly and to the point.
Hyundai’s test area in Finland offers a good opportunity to find the right settings for Sweden, as the conditions in Finland are expected to be very similar to those in Northern Sweden in February.
“I don’t know the current situation there, but usually, it’s okay,” Tänak said, referring to the test conditions.
Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä and Elfyn Evans will gain valuable experience on snow before Sweden, as both are participating in the Arctic Lapland Rally. There were rumours about Tänak also driving in a test rally, but it ultimately was not possible.
“There were some discussions about it, but logistically, it was not possible,” Tänak revealed.
