Why Ott Tanak suffered a second WRC Rally Chile retirement
Protecting his spare engine for a chance to fight for Super Sunday points is the reason behind Ott Tanak’s decision to retire from Rally Chile for a second time. Tanak rejoined the rally after his Hyundai team fitted a spare engine to his i20 N Rally1 car overnight, following an engine failure during Friday’s stage […]
Clash with WRC scrutineer earns Ott Tanak 5-min penalty, suspended 35-point hit
Stewards have handed Ott Tanak a five-minute penalty and a suspended World Rally Championship 35-point deduction following an incident involving a scrutineer at Rally Finland. The incident occurred at the end of Friday’s stage seven, which proved to be eventful for the championship leader after sliding off the road and striking a tree. The impact […]
Ott Tanak ends Hyundai’s seven-race victory drought
Ott Tanak boosted his World Rally Championship title hopes after producing a stunning drive in extreme conditions to win Acropolis Rally Greece — ending Hyundai’s victory drought. Tanak beat Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier by 32.8s following an intense head-to-head that concluded with Tanak suffering a gearbox issue on the final stage. Hyundai sealed a double podium […]
Why Ott Tanak feared final stage drama could cost his WRC Acropolis Rally win
Ott Tanak admitted he was “very worried” he’d lose a drought-ending World Rally Championship win in Greece after a gearbox issue struck in the final stage. Tanak had dominated a demanding Acropolis Rally having driven his Hyundai to nine stage wins to open up a 48.8s margin over Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier ahead of the 17th […]
Ott Tanak pulls clear of Sebastien Ogier, Kalle Rovanpera retires
Ott Tanak opened up a 43.6s lead over Sebastien Ogier heading into the final day of the Acropolis Rally Greece, as Hyundai edged closer to a first win of the 2025 World Rally Championship season. Tanak delivered a dominant drive claiming five of Saturday’s six rough gravel stages, held once again in stifling hot temperatures. […]
The big talking points ahead of WRC Rally Sardinia
Sardinia is regarded as one of the roughest rallies on the World Rally Championship calendar, and is often a critical round as the title race edges towards the halfway mark. Heading into the rally, Toyota’s Elfyn Evans continues to lead the standings, albeit his advantage has been cut to 30 points over team-mate Kalle Rovanpera, […]
Hyundai was ‘clearly unprepared’ for WRC Canary Islands round
Ott Tanak felt Hyundai was ‘clearly unprepared’ for the demands of Rally Islas Canarias after suffering a crushing defeat to World Rally Championship rivals Toyota. Hyundai admitted that it underestimated the difficulty of the first pure asphalt event of the 2025 WRC season as it was unable to take the fight to a dominant Toyota […]
What was behind Tanak’s Saturday Monte Carlo blitz?
Hyundai team principal Cyril Abiteboul believes Ott Tanak’s perfect Saturday afternoon at the opening round of the new World Rally Championship season was down to the combination of a «deep look» into his approach and the correct tyre strategy. Sebastien Ogier leads Toyota team-mate Elfyn Evans by 20.3 seconds heading into Sunday’s running, with Tanak […]
2025 Rally1 cars are how a «rally car should be»
The 2025 specification World Rally Championship cars without hybrid power are much «simpler» and «a lot easier» to drive, according to Hyundai Motorsport’s Ott Tanak. The WRC will usher in new technical regulations this season after the FIA decided to remove hybrid power from Rally1 cars, which will also now run on a new control […]