After the morning session on Saturday, Tänak is fourth in the rally, but Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux has been able to put pressure on the Hyundai star.
The gap between Tänak and Fourmaux narrowed to just over 14 seconds during the morning. The challenge has been compounded by unpredictable weather, which seems impossible to forecast. Tänak followed Marcus Grönholm’s advice from years ago and refused to play meteorologist.
“No idea. Rain was predicted for this morning and obviously it didn’t come,” Tänak commented.
“In the mountains, it’s always the story. It’s very difficult to predict. But yesterday evening we were somehow very confident that something was going to hit by this morning,” Tänak continued.
Tänak’s morning was challenging. He was unable to match the pace of the leaders. The gaps were reasonably small throughout, but the Estonian’s position in the rally still weakened.
“In the first stage, I pushed quite hard but didn’t have great balance. I worked my tires far too much. Then, in the next three stages, I just needed to survive and get through. I had one moment as well, but other than that, we managed quite well,” Tänak explained.
At one point, Tänak’s Hyundai’s right front took a slight hit, but the car did not suffer significant damage.
“We touched the curb and there was no real damage. Just some scratches. I was expecting more when I saw that it was going to go a bit wider,” Tänak reported.
Preparing for the afternoon will be challenging. Tyre choice again poses a headache as the weather is so unpredictable.
“Like we saw this morning, it’s very difficult to guess. I guess the afternoon will be a bit the same. Let’s see what they say. But it sounds like we need to be ready for anything or everything,” the Estonian pondered.
