Ott Tänak

Ott Tänak

Personal information
Nationality Estonia Estonian
Born (1987-10-15) 15 October 1987
Kärla Parish, Estonia
World Rally Championship record
Active years 2009–2012, 2014–present
Co-driver Estonia Martin Järveoja
Teams M-Sport World Rally Team
DMACK World Rally Team
Pirelli Star Driver
Rallies 75
Championships 0
Rally wins 1
Podiums 8
Stage wins 69
Total points 354
First rally 2009 Rally de Portugal
First win 2017 Rally d'Italia

Ott Tänak (born 15 October 1987) is an Estonian rally driver competing for M-Sport World Rally Team in the World Rally Championship.

Career

Early career

Tänak won the Estonian Rally Championship in 2008 and 2009, driving for the team run by former world rally winner Markko Märtin.[1] Tänak made his World Rally Championship debut on the 2009 Rally de Portugal, finishing 20th overall.[2] In September 2009 Tänak won the European Pirelli Star Driver shootout held in Austria.[3] This gave him the opportunity to compete on six rounds of the 2010 World Rally Championship season. He won the PWRC category on the 2010 Rally Finland and 2010 Rally GB.

2011

In 2011, Tänak drove 7 rallies with a Ford Fiesta S2000, prepared by MM-Motosport team under Markko Märtin's instructions. He made a five-year contract with Ford.[4]

Tänak scored his first WRC points in the 2011 Rally Mexico, and finished 3rd in SWRC. In Italy he collected his first class win with an outstanding performance. He continued to impress in Greece, as he was leading after the first day, but rolled his car on the first stage of the second day, and had to retire. In Finland he finished 3rd, and looked like he has only mathematical chances of winning the title. But with victories in Germany and France, he put himself back into title contention, arriving in Spain only 3 points behind leader Juho Hänninen. However, he hit a rock on the first stage, breaking his Fiesta S2000's front crossmember, and had to restart under SupeRally rules, meaning that he basically lost all of his chances of becoming the champion. He finished the event sixth in SWRC, and runner-up to Hänninen in the championship standings.

He made his debut in a WRC-spec Ford Fiesta prepared by M-Sport Stobart at the 2011 Wales Rally GB, testing Chinese tyre supplier DMACK's tyre compounds in preparation for their entry into the championship in 2012.[5]

2012

Tänak at the 2012 Rallye de France

In 2012, Tänak was the number one driver for M-Sport Ford World Rally Team, and with a Ford Fiesta RS WRC he drove the full 2012 season. At the Rally Sweden Tänak took his first stage win on SS14.[6] He later had a season with ups and downs. After retiring in Sweden with engine failure, he finished fifth in Mexico. But in Portugal, he slid off the road, forcing him to return under Rally2 (formerly SupeRally) rules. The next round, Rally Argentina started well for Tänak, but continued badly: he collected punctures, and slid back to 37th, but fought his way back to 10th. In Greece, he was doing well until he had to stop due to suspension damage and had to use Rally2 again. He crashed out in New Zealand, but on Rally Finland, the next round, he bounced back with a 6th-place finish. He followed this up by two crashes in Germany and Great Britain. After these poor performances, he went on to finish sixth in France. He scored his first podium in Italy, the penultimate round of the season, by finishing 3rd behind winner Mikko Hirvonen and Evgeny Novikov. The final round of the season, the Catalunya Rally, was bittersweet to him: on the first day, he was even leading the rally, and was lying fifth when he crashed out on the last stage. He finished 8th in the final standings, winning 8 stages during the season.

2013

In the year 2013, Tänak was no longer a part of M-Sport World Rally Team and was forced to leave the WRC stage. He started competing in and leading a team at Estonian national rallies, OT Racing, and the first rally under his direction was Võru Talveralli 2013. Tänak's first competitive rally in 2013 was Rally Tallinn, driving a Subaru Impreza WRX STi N12, in which he finished 2nd, just after Georg Gross, who was driving a 2008 Ford Focus WRC, and just 0.4 seconds ahead of Alexey Lukyanuk, who was driving in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 10. In season total, he finished 6 rally events, of which one he won and came 2nd in the rest, all behind Georg Gross. At the season finale, Saaremaa Ralli, Tänak led the event at the penultimate stage by just 4.4 seconds ahead of Georg Gross. Five stages before the penultimate stage, Tänak, with his WRC experience, knew that he would have to really push in the early morning when others are still waking up. He succeeded and built a lead of 15.9 seconds ahead of Egon Kaur and 20 seconds ahead of Georg Gross. But it wasn't enough, he was driving on the limits of his Subaru Impreza and couldn't go any faster. Georg Gross caught him on the final stage and won by 2.4 seconds. He finished the season by winning the N4 class with 3 points ahead of Timmu Kõrge.

2014

Tänak has announced that he will be a part of Drive DMACK World Rally Team, which he will drive under in WRC2, and M-Sport, where he will drive Sweden, Portugal and Sardegna with a Ford Fiesta RS WRC. His co-driver will be Raigo Mõlder and his WRC-2 teammate will be Jari Ketomaa.[7]

2015

In 2015, Tänak returned to M-Sport Ford World Rally Team following the retirement of Mikko Hirvonen to compete in the Ford Fiesta RS WRC.[8] His best result of the season was claiming third in the 72nd Rally Poland, matching his career-best result.[9]

2016

Ott Tänak left the M-Sport World Rally Team and returned to the DMACK World Rally Team,[10] the team he drove for at selected events in 2014.

2017

After a year in DMACK World Rally Team, Tänak returned to M-Sport Ford World Rally Team, teaming up with 4-time world champion Sébastien Ogier, who chose M-Sport after Volkswagen's withdrawal. Tänak changed co-drivers, with Martin Järveoja replacing Raigo Mõlder.

WRC victories

 #  Event Season Co-driver Car
1 Italy 14° Rally Italia Sardegna 2017 Estonia Martin Järveoja Ford Fiesta WRC

Results

WRC results

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 WDC Points
2009 Ott Tänak Subaru Impreza WRX STi IRE NOR CYP POR
20		 ARG ITA GRE POL FIN
Ret		 AUS ESP GBR NC 0
2010 Ott Tänak Subaru Impreza WRX STi SWE
Ret		 MEX JOR NC 0
Pirelli Star Driver Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X TUR
Ret		 NZL POR
Ret		 BUL FIN
18		 GER
31		 JPN FRA
19		 ESP GBR
17
2011 MM Motorsport Ford Fiesta S2000 SWE MEX
10		 POR JOR ITA
7		 ARG GRE
Ret		 FIN
13		 GER
12		 AUS FRA
11		 ESP
27		 15th 15
M-Sport Stobart Ford World Rally Team Ford Fiesta RS WRC GBR
6
2012 M-Sport Ford World Rally Team Ford Fiesta RS WRC MON
8		 SWE
Ret		 MEX
5		 POR
14		 ARG
10		 GRE
9		 NZL
Ret		 FIN
6		 GER
Ret		 GBR
Ret		 FRA
6 		ITA
3 		ESP
Ret		 8th 52
2014 M-Sport World Rally Team Ford Fiesta RS WRC MON SWE
5		 POR
Ret		 15th 17
Drive Dmack Ford Fiesta R5 MEX
15		 ARG
17		 ITA
21		 POL
11		 FIN
12		 GER
10		 AUS
Ret		 FRA ESP
Ford Fiesta RS WRC GBR
7
2015 M-Sport World Rally Team Ford Fiesta RS WRC MON
18		 SWE
4		 MEX
22		 ARG
11		 POR
5		 ITA
14		 POL
3		 FIN
5		 GER
8		 AUS
6		 FRA
10		 ESP
41		 GBR
Ret		 10th 63
2016 DMACK World Rally Team Ford Fiesta RS WRC MON
7		 SWE
5		 MEX
6		 ARG
15		 POR
Ret		 ITA
5		 POL
2 		FIN
Ret		 GER
23		 CHN
C		 FRA
10		 ESP
6		 GBR
2		 AUS
7		 8th 88
2017 M-Sport World Rally Team Ford Fiesta WRC MON
3		 SWE
2		 MEX
4		 FRA
11		 ARG
3		 POR
4		 ITA
1		 POL
Ret		 FIN
7		 GER ESP GBR AUS 3rd* 119*

* Season still in progress.

PWRC results

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 PWRC Points
2010 Pirelli Star Driver Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X SWE MEX JOR NZL FIN
1		 GER
5		 JPN FRA
2		 GBR
1		 4th 78

SWRC results

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 SWRC Points
2011 MM Motorsport Ford Fiesta S2000 MEX
3		 JOR ITA
1		 GRE
Ret		 FIN
3		 GER
1		 FRA
1		 ESP
6		 2nd 113

WRC-2 results

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 WRC 2 Points
2014 Drive Dmack Ford Fiesta R5 MON SWE MEX
4		 POR ARG
8		 ITA
8		 POL
1		 FIN
3		 GER
2		 AUS
Ret		 FRA ESP GBR 6th 78

ERC results

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos. Points
2014 MM Motorsport Ford Fiesta R5 JÄN LIE GRE IRE AZO YPR EST
1		 11th 44
Drive Dmack CZE
7		 CYP ROM VAL COR

References

  1. ↑ http://www.rallybuzz.com/ott-tanak-wins-estonian-championship/
  2. ↑ http://www.rallybuzz.com/ott-tanak-rally-portugal/
  3. ↑ http://www.rallybuzz.com/tanak-raschi-psd-winners/
  4. ↑ Ott Tänak sõlmis Fordiga viieaastase kontrahti (in Estonian)
  5. ↑ Evans, David (3 November 2011). "Ott Tanak to give DMACK tyres their World Rally Car debut in Britain". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
  6. ↑ "Tanak takes first stage win". World Rally Championship. International Sportsworld Communicators. 11 February 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2012.
  7. ↑ "Ott Tanak back in WRC in 2014". Crash.Net. Crash.Net. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
  8. ↑ A team with potential: M-Sport confirm Evans and Tänak
  9. ↑ Tänak triumphs with Rally Poland Podium
  10. ↑ "Tänak uncertain of 2016 plans". WRC.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
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