Ott Tänak made his WRC debut on Rally de Portugal

Written by Scott Coursey WRC Apr 14, 2009

Louna Eesti%20ralli%202008%201807%20052 Ott Tänak made his WRC debut on Rally de Portugal

Photo: Sven-Valter Stock

Estonian driver Ott Tänak made his WRC debut on Rally Portugal recently in a Subaru Impreza WRX STi competing in the Group N category.

Tänak, who is 21 years old and hails from Saaremaa in Estonia, is supported by Markko Martin's Autospiritist team and he was Estonian champion in 2008. He has a fan club who have a the slogan; 'Ott Tänak Maailmameistriks' = 'Ott Tänak to become World Champion'

Tanak had an eventful Rally Portugal on his way to finishing 20th overall and was setting times amongst the fastest P-WRC and Group N competitors. He set the fastest Group N/P-WRC time on SS13 by 17s, much to the delight of his fans, though he got caught out by other drivers dust on the first day of the rally and this had him down the order a bit.

Tänak is unsure when he will be able to return to compete in the WRC due to a lack of budget though he would dearly love to get more experience and regular competition at this level. Meanwhile, he should be in action again on rounds of the Estonian championship later in the year.