Ott Tanak is not looking to back down in his quest to grab his second WRC title in 2024.
The Estonian is one of the top talents in the WRC. At the time of writing, Tanak has racked up 20 wins, 52 podiums and 378 stage wins across his career.
The 37-year-old claimed the 2019 WRC title with Toyota having finished third the two years prior. Now at Hyundai, Tanak has registered a best finish of second since his championship win in 2022.
Tanak has always been someone who is consistently at the top of the standings and fighting for the championship, and that is no different in 2024 as the WRC heads into its final two rallies of the year.
Ott Tanak has ‘superhuman’ quality in title deciders in the WRC
Tanak’s 2024 campaign did not get off to a great start as he failed to grab a podium in the opening four rallies, finishing fourth at the Monte Carlo Rally and Croatia Rally.
Second place in Portugal was followed by his only win of the year thus far in Sardinia, before suffering a dismal weekend in Poland. Tanak finished third in Latvia, but crashed out of Rally Finland.
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It looked to be all but over for the Estonian, but after a drop in form from Sebastien Ogier and two third place finishes in Greece and Chile as thrown Tanak right back into contention as he sits 29 points behind Hyundai teammate Thierry Neuville.
And the 37-year-old is not looking to give up his title chances. Speaking on the WRC YouTube channel during the shakedown stage of the Central European Rally, Eyvind Brynildsen outlined the ‘superhuman’ trait Tanak has in title-deciding situations.
He said: “I think in normal Ott style he will go flat out and try to win the rally and make sure that it will not be the decider here, it will be in Japan.
“And we know that Ott, he’s always really good when it comes down to these deciders when you really need to be, maybe a superhuman. Normally, he’s very good at that.”
What does Ott Tanak need to do to win the WRC title?
With two rallies to go, Tanak is 29 points behind Neuville, meaning that the latter only has to outscore the former by two points at the Central European Rally to secure the title.
It sounds easy enough, but with Tanak looking to fight all the way, Neuville will be under pressure to hold on and grab his maiden championship win.
Neuville wants to avoid an ‘internal fight’ with Tanak and wrap up the championship as quickly as possible so that he can concentrate his efforts on securing the Manufacturers’ title for Hyundai.
The Korean outfit lead Toyota by 17 points as their Japanese rivals cut their 35-point advantage with a one-two finish in Chile.