Former F1 driver Tiff Needell has commented on Hyundai World Rally Championship driver Ott Tanak’s ‘miserable’ season after another crash hampered his title hopes.
The Estonian made his return to Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT for 2024 having spent three years with the team between 2020 and 2022, after leaving Ford at the end of last season.
Tanak is one of the most recognised and successful names in the WRC, winning the championship with Toyota in 2019, finishing runner-up in 2022 and third on three previous occasions.
The 36-year-old has won 20 rallies in his career and a total of 49 podiums as he looks to grab his second title this season with Hyundai.
But 2024 has not been plain sailing for Tanak, and speaking on the Lovecars On The Grid podcast, Needell discussed the misery the Estonian has suffered this campaign.
Tiff Needell says that Ott Tanak has endured a miserable season so far
Last time out in Rally Finland, Sebastien Ogier grabbed victory for Toyota from his teammate Kalle Rovanpera, after the latter crashed out late into the event after colliding with a rock.
While Hyundai now hold a 20-point lead over their rivals in the standings thanks to the misfortunes of Rovanpera and Elfyn Evans, their weekend was not without its drama as Tanak suffered a high speed crash on Friday.
The Estonian lost control of his i20 N mid-corner in stage three, resulting in the car rolling and striking a tree, before coming to a rest on its side and bringing out the red flag.
Subsequently, Tanak was ruled out for the weekend, and Needell lamented the 36-year-old difficult season following the crash.
“Ott Tanak had a huge shunt on day one, he was off,” he said.
“He’s had a miserable year. I mean Ott always tries 100% and I think he’s someone that, when the car’s not good, he’s determined to still try and win every rally by, you know just pushing it that bit more, and off he went.”
Tanak suffers another crash in a difficult season for the Hyundai driver
Tanak was expected to be one of the contenders for the championship this season, but following his incident in Jyvaskyla, he now sits third in the standings and 31 points behind Hyundai teammate Thierry Neuville.
Unfortunately for the Estonian, Finland was just the latest of several mistakes and issues he has suffered in the 2024 campaign.
At the opening round in Monte Carlo, he was caught out by a patch of ice and an anti-lag system issue left him in fourth place, while in Sweden he crashed while sitting third on stage four, but was still able to salvage six points with the WRC’s new points system at Super Sunday and the Power Stage.
Tanak crashed again in Kenya at stage six when he collided with a rock and sent him temporarily airborne and into a bank, leaving him eighth overall.
After a change in fortunes with three consecutive top four finishes, including two podiums – one being victory in Sardinia – bad luck would strike again in Poland as Tanak collided with a deer at 117mph and left him well down the order. He returned to the podium in Latvia, finishing third.