Despite retiring early on Friday, Tänak still managed to secure a respectable 12 points from the Safari Rally.
The new scoring system, which allows for significant points to be won even on Sunday, worked to Tänak’s advantage. Under the old system, he would have earned four points less, totalling eight points.
“Surprisingly good points considering we retired,” Tänak commented.
“That’s the f*ck-up with the new system,” the Estonian bluntly added.
Tänak’s retirement was caused by a loose stone on the driving line, which catapulted his car into a bank. Aside from this incident, Tänak had no major complaints about his car in Kenya.
“We had some minor issues here and there, but nothing that significantly disturbed the performance. In terms of the chassis and other major topics, it was quite consistent and good; there’s no big issue,” Tänak outlined.
Entering this season as one of the favourites for the championship, Tänak is currently fourth in the standings, 34 points behind his teammate Thierry Neuville, after three rounds.
“Obviously, we have some bigger things to worry about than the points at the moment. It seems like we really need to get our consistency back,” Tänak stated.
“Okay, whatever happened on Friday this time, there was really no other option to save it. There was really no chance this time,” he continued.
“But Sweden and Monte were clearly my mistakes, which normally I shouldn’t do and haven’t done. The target here was actually just to have a clean run with no trouble. We managed to get through without any punctures or issues, so we were quite clean. But that one unfortunate rock cost us a lot,” Tänak lamented.
So far, Tänak’s season has not gone as planned. He quickly fell out of contention for the win in Monte Carlo, finishing fourth. In Sweden, he was forced to retire.
The next opportunity for Tänak comes in mid-April in Croatia. The Estonian has fond memories of Croatia, having finished second in last year’s rally.
