The Tour de Corse was always going to be a challenging one for Ott Tänak and co-driver Martin Järveoja. The driver failed to find a good feeling on his previous encounters and Järveoja experienced the event for the very first time.
In the early stages however, it looked as though the Estonians would have the better of the Corsican stages. Posting a string of competitive times behind the wheel of their Ford Fiesta WRC, the pairing were holding a solid fourth place and on pace with the Tarmac specialists.
Unfortunately however, they would not have an opportunity to show what they could do on these unique stages – sliding off the road through the second pass of ‘Pietrosella – Albitreccia’ (SS3).
Returning under Rally 2 regulations, Tänak was hampered by engine issues. Soon he regained his rhythm.
Despite failing to get the balance of the Fiesta to his liking, the Estonian continued to post competitive times and has shown a vast improvement in pace at an event he considers to be his Achilles’ heel. At the finish Ott was 11th.
“It’s been a rally of highs and lows”, Ott Tänak said
“This has always been one of my least favourite events so it was really good to see that we had good speed through the opening stages. We were on pace with the Tarmac specialists and, for the first time, I was really enjoying these twisty roads.”
“That made it really hard when we slid off the road – it was an empty feeling to be honest – but we have to look to the positives. We’ve learnt a lot and my pace has been so much stronger than it had been in previous years.”
“The result wasn’t what we wanted. But the pace was good and we’ll come back stronger. All focus now on a proper push at Rally Argentina!”
Testing today in Portugal and in Estonia ? Busy times ?✌️️? @OTRacingTeam @MSportLtd pic.twitter.com/Vdpk9URyU7
— Ott Tänak (@OttTanak) 14 April 2017
