Hatanmaa has been competing primarily in the Baltic region this season, taking part in rounds of the Latvian rally championship. The young driver had the chance to secure the junior class championship title over the weekend, but his fight for a strong result ended in the penultimate stage.
Hatanmaa had a severe off on an tarmac section, with his Peugeot 208 Rally4 rolling several times after going airborne. Both Hatanmaa and his co-driver Juho Koski-Lammi fortunately escaped the crash without serious injuries.
Hyundai WRC star Tänak happened to be spectating at that exact location. According to the Estonian site Ralli.ee, onlookers were preparing to call an ambulance for Hatanmaa and Koski-Lammi, but Tänak calmed the situation, by pointing out that the Finnish duo had exited the car on their own and were unharmed.
After the crash, Tänak also warned the following drivers to slow down at the accident site.
Hatanmaa commented on the unusual coincidence on his Facebook page.
“I gave a thumbs-up from the bushes to show everything was okay. At that moment, I didn’t realise it was Tänak I was signalling to,” Hatanmaa shared.
Hatanmaa noted that he learned a valuable lesson from the crash.
“We learned that grip doesn’t improve on rough asphalt when more rubber builds up on the second pass.”
The Paide Rally counted for both the Latvian and Estonian championship points. Norwegian talent Karl Peder Nordstrand took the overall victory, finishing ahead of Estonian Egon Kaur.
