Estonia’s Ott Tänak has vowed to keep pushing for a maiden WRC rally victory after losing out at the eleventh hour in PZM 73rd Rally Poland last weekend.Tanak dominated the rally in his DMACK-shod Ford Fiesta RS, setting nine fastest stage times and managing a seemingly comfortable lead before a rock-related puncture on Sunday’s penultimate stage dropped him to second behind Andreas Mikkelsen.
“We had everything in our hands and it looked safe but unfortunately we had a slow puncture at the beginning and I had to do most of the stage on the rim,” Tanak told wrc.com. “I still pushed really, really hard but in those conditions you can’t do much. It was difficult to take, but this is our job – sometimes rallying can be this way. There will be a payback time.”
Despite the cruel outcome, Tanak felt there were plenty of positives to take from Poland. “If you look at the big picture it’s still a great result for DMACK and the team. From my side we did the perfect rally, not a single mistake, even though for many stages I was on the limit,” he said.
“I felt like I was able to match the other drivers and, if needed, there was definitely a feeling that I could go faster. For sure the win needs to come. We’ve been working hard and I’ll do all I can to get it one day.”
One of Tänak’s best chances could come later this month at Neste Rally Finland, where the high-speed gravel stages have a lot in common with those in Poland.
“I have three weeks to prepare now and I will do my maximum to fight for the victory in Finland,” he said. “I hope we will have a good package to do that. If everything is working it should be possible.”