The Estonian clinched the top spot on the Mediterranean island by a narrow margin of 0.2 seconds over Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier, who suffered a puncture on the last special stage. Tänak had experienced the same situation five years earlier on the very same stage in Sardinia.
“I had the same situation a few years ago when the win was already in the bag, but I lost it on that same stage. Although I feel sorry for Seb, maybe this was some kind of compensation for that, Tänak laughed.
However, the 2019 world champion admitted that losing a victory by such a historically small margin is tough.
“We didn’t get anything from the victory. Just statistics and, of course, a good feeling. Of course, the feeling is good, there’s no denying that. At the same time, I feel very sorry for Seb. It’s harsh to lose a win that way,” Tänak summarized.
“With the current system, this brought nothing but a good feeling. We didn’t get any extra points.”
With his victory and a good points haul on Sunday, Tänak moved to a tied second place in the championship with Toyota’s Elfyn Evans. Tänak’s teammate Thierry Neuville, who leads the series, is 18 points ahead.
“The last couple of rallies have been really positive. We’ve scored good points for ourselves and for the manufacturers’ championship. Let’s see what the future holds. Now there are fast rallies coming up, so the mood should be at its peak,” Tänak reflected.
“We’re still in the game. Normally, I enjoy fast gravel rallies, and that’s what’s coming up next.”
