Tänak participated in a national competition held alongside the European Rally Championship event in Estonia. The Hyundai driver’s goal was to gather important test kilometres with the Rally1 car in competitive conditions before next week’s Rally Latvia.
Tänak’s test rally ended with a severe crash on the second special stage. The Hyundai i20 N Rally1 car was badly damaged in the accident, but Tänak and co-driver Martin Järveoja emerged without serious injuries.
Wild conspiracy theories about Tänak’s crash have circulated on social media and online forums, according to the Estonian newspaper Postimees. Speculations suggest that Tänak’s crash might have been caused by a technical fault in Hyundai’s Rally1 car.
Hyundai Motorsport briefly commented on these claims to the Estonian newspaper.
“Our analysis showed that there was nothing wrong with the car. Additionally, neither Tänak nor Järveoja provided such feedback,” Hyundai stated in its response.
At the same time, Hyundai mentioned that the team is still analysing the data to fully understand what happened in the accident.
Among Hyundai drivers, Esapekka Lappi will compete in a test rally in Lithuania this coming weekend. World championship leader Thierry Neuville was also supposed to start in Rally Lietuva, but Hyundai had to withdraw the Belgian’s entry. This was likely due to the fact that Hyundai’s test car was wrecked in Tänak’s crash.
Read more: Hyundai star faces major setback – is Ott Tänak’s severe crash to blame?
Rally Latvia is scheduled for 18-21 July.
