Ott Tanak says that Central European Rally was a demanding rally since the beginning as four drivers were fighting for the victory while he believes that there are still chances for the drivers' title.
The Estonian driver was struggling with his Hyundai i20N on Friday morning and managed to reel in the former rally leader Thierry Neuville for 0,8 seconds at the end of Stage 9. However, he dropped to third at the end of Stage 10, but he gained one more place when his teammate had two spins in Stage 11, while Sebastien Ogier completed Saturday afternoon at the first place. The last one dropped to second place for 1.9 seconds when he had a lock-up on the opening Sunday stage and Tanak took the lead of CER at the end of that stage while the last one claimed his second win of the season with Hyundai after Ogier's crash in Stage 17. At the end of Central European Rally, Tanak collected 22 points and cut Neuville's championship lead by four points which means that their gap is now at 25 points with only one rally remaining until the season finale in Japan.
"The rally was really intense – demanding from the get-go, with four drivers so close together and never more than ten seconds apart", Tanak said.
"The conditions were never easy, and although Sunday was the best weather wise yet it was still challenging and unpredictable.
"I fought very hard with Seb and really tried to push on Sunday to secure the win.
"There is still hope for our drivers’ championship campaign but the manufacturers’ standings is very close with Toyota, so we have a big fight ahead of us in Japan".
Photo Credits: Hyundai
Post a Comment