Ott Tanak has been blisteringly fast throughout his WRC career, challenging for championships and rally wins on a variety of surfaces and for multiple teams.
The Estonian also clinched his maiden WRC title in 2019 for Toyota Gazoo Racing, finishing comfortably ahead of his nearest rival, Thierry Neuville.
Tanak began his WRC career in 2009 after winning the Estonian Rally Championship twice, making his debut at that year’s Rally de Portugal.
After multiple seasons of failing to win a rally, Tanak took his first victory in 2017 for M-Sport WRT in Italy on his way to third in the WRC championship.
Ott Tanak scored his first WRC podium in his first full season
Tanak entered a few rallies in 2009 and 2010, failing to challenge the frontrunners and retiring from Rally Finland in his debut year.
The Estonian won the European Pirelli Star Driver shootout held in Austria, enabling him to compete in six rounds of the WRC campaign throughout 2010.
He retired from the opening round in Sweden as a private entry before returning in Turkey in a Mitsubishi Evo Lancer X as a Pirelli Star Driver.
Failing to finish in Turkey and Portugal was followed up by an 18th-place finish at Rally Finland. Tanak drove in three more rallies before coming back to the series in 2011.
He undertook another partial campaign, initially in a Ford Fiesta RS for seven rallies, breaking into the top 10 for the first time at Rally Mexico, his opening event of the year.
The impressive outing set up an improved campaign for Tanak, who finished in seventh place at Rally Italia Sardegna, winning the SWRC class alongside his co-driver Kuldar Sikk.
After retiring from the Acropolis Rally in Greece, he failed to break into the top 10 throughout the rest of the 2011 season in the Ford Fiesta S2000.
After moments in brilliance earlier in the season, Tanak made his debut in a WRC-spec Ford Fiesta at Wales Rally GB in 2011, finishing sixth, just under nine seconds slower than the overall winner Jari-Matti Latvala.
After a strong drive in Wales during his first event in a WRC-spec car, he stayed with Ford and M-Sport in 2012 to compete in his first full season.
Tanak’s year started well with eighth place at the kick-off in Monte Carlo, his first visit to the twisty roads in the mountains above Monaco.
The Estonian’s next outing in Sweden was a weekend of mixed emotions. He took his first stage win on Stage 14 before retiring with an engine failure.
A top five in Mexico followed, keeping up the momentum after a competitive start to the year before dropping outside the top 10 to 14th place at Rally de Portugal.
A difficult weekend in Argentina ended in a 10th-place finish, despite picking up a puncture and dropping to the back of the field.
After two sixth places and a couple of consecutive retirements in Germany and at Wales Rally GB, Tanak stormed to his first WRC podium in Italy. The Estonian, competing in the SWRC class, finished in seventh place at Rally Italia Sardegna in 2011.
Tanak didn’t win a Special Stage throughout the rally in Italy but was consistent and kept out of trouble to take third place.
He finished just over two minutes behind the overall winner, Mikko Hirvonen, bouncing back from a difficult run in the mid-part of the season.
Ott Tanak won the WRC title in 2019
After years of taking podiums and many stage wins, 2019 was the year when Tanak finally delivered a WRC title.
He took his first victory at the highest level of rallying two years earlier with M-Sport, taking yet more success at Rally Italia Sardegna.
The Estonian switched to Toyota Gazoo Racing in 2018, which proved to be a step up in his career. He took four victories that season on his way to third in the championship, with the first coming at Rally Argentina.
He also won three consecutive rallies in Finland, Germany, and Turkey but finished third in the standings behind Sebastien Ogier and Belgian driver Neuville.
After taking four wins the previous season, he picked up where he left off at the 2019 Monte Carlo Rally as a championship contender.
Tanak took seven stage victories at the season opener but wasn’t able to get the better of Ogier, who won the rally ahead of Neuville.
His strong start to the year continued with a victory next time out on the snow and ice of Rally Sweden before a second place in Mexico.
Finishing on the podium in the opening three rounds of the championship set up an impressive title-winning campaign with a new level of consistency.
A couple of lacklustre rounds in France and Argentina stalled the Estonian’s momentum as Neuville won both events for Hyundai.
Tanak recovered from his slight blip halfway through the year and won five of the final eight rallies of the season.
The Toyota driver finished in the top five in every event apart from Rally Turkey after suffering from an electrical failure.
Tanak clinched the title at Rally Catalunya with second place, just enough to take the championship ahead of Neuville, who floundered after his win in Argentina and scored just one more win which came at the final round in Spain.
The 2019 WRC season was scheduled to finish with Rally Australia, but the event was cancelled due to the ongoing bushfires in the area.
So, with that in mind, Full Oversteer looks at everything you need to know about Tanak…
How old is Ott Tanak? Where was he born?
Tanak is 36 years old and was born on October 15, 1987, in Karla, Estonia.
What is Ott Tanak’s net worth?
Tanak’s net worth is reported to be $3 million or £2.3 million.
Ott Tanak’s career stats in WRC
WRC titles: 1
WRC rally entries: 149
WRC wins: 19
WRC podiums: 46