Tanak triumphs on Wales Rally GB
Toyota man battles to put himself in prime position for title
Lights out, locked up and heading towards a tree, Ott Tanak could have been forgiven for thinking Oulton Park little more than a continuation of his Wales Rally GB curse. Let’s not forget, last time we saw him in these parts, he was lying on his back in Sweet Lamb, broken Toyota Yaris WRC alongside him. Cursed.
Fortunately for the Estonian, he gathered the Thursday night slide, relit the fire and kept it burning until Sunday afternoon.
Last week was nothing like the sort of all-conquering performance that came from him in the first half of last year’s rally. He finished what he started in 2018, but the job was much more workmanlike.
His moment in the dark on the opening night cost him nine seconds. After the finish, Tanak admitted he went to bed on Thursday night not unduly concerned; 12 months ago he’d extended his advantage by precisely the same amount by mid-morning Friday.
He would be fine, if he could just do what he does.
And, don’t forget, he was in prime position on the road on day one proper. The front of the field offers a genuine advantage in typically wet, mucky Rally GB conditions. So goes the theory, the roads develop a crust which offers some bite and mechanical grip. But with each passing car, that crust gets broken and the vibration generated by the passing of each thundering World Rally Car brings moisture to the surface, creating a kind of mud porridge for those following.
And once the porridge is made, grip’s at an increasing premium.
Having delved deeply into the science of mud creation, it was the corners that caused the problem in Elsi.
Third quickest through, Tanak grumbled: “It was difficult. We did it the other way around last year and going in this direction this time, there’s no flow. I couldn’t find the good rhythm.”
Rhythm was no bother for the Brits as Elfyn Evans posted his first fastest time since Corsica’s Eaux de Zilia stage on the last day of March. The M-sport star wasted no time in reacquainting himself with the top of the timesheets after a back injury-enforced absence from the last three rounds.
Evans’ countryman Kris Meeke was going through a period of reintroduction himself, having missed last year’s Wales Rally GB after parting ways with Citroen earlier in the season. Second quickest to Evans through
SS2 ensured Meeke stayed out front following his scratch time around Oulton the previous evening.
Meeke looked self-assured and confident. Less swashbuckling authority, more calculated.
More controlled.
There were no fastest times, but consistency paid off handsomely as he remained at the top of the table going into the final stage of the day.
Friday had taken the crews from the north Welsh coast towards mid-wales. The real heart of the country would be tackled on Saturday. Day one was the woods around Betws-y-coed before a couple of classics in the shape of Dyfnant and Aberhirnant.
Meeke loves both, but this time they were more of a challenge than normal as the rain persisted through the morning loop.
“I had a spin in Dyfnant,” he said. “And then in Aberhirnant there was a lot of aquaplaning. There was a lot of kind of slushy mud on the surface
– it was weird.”
Lunchtime Friday and the top six were split by just 10 seconds. Tanak had recovered to fourth, but was still 6.5s off his team-mate.
The championship leader’s big break came at the start of the second run through Dyfnant. The stage was delayed by 20 minutes while the spectators sorted themselves out. Sitting at the start, Tanak could see this one gradually coming to him. He went into the stage at 1831hrs, with the lights going green on rally leader Meeke 12 minutes later.
Sunset time on Friday October 4?
Try 1845hrs.
Tanak tore at the 12-miler, but it wasn’t all plain sailing. Mid-way through the twilight test, he’d lost his spotlights.
“That,” smiled Craig Breen’s co-driver Paul Nagle, “is how he was so quick. He couldn’t see where he was going!”
Tanak was in no mood for jokes as he stopped on the road north to what would be a fully dark repeat of Aberhirnant.
“It’s a problem with the wire,” he said. “I smelled burning and then they went.”
By the time he fired the Toyota up the road section along the shores of
Lake Vyrnwy he’d got half the bulbs on.
It was enough. Consecutive fastest times moved him to the top of the table at the end of Friday. A fifthgear slide early doors in the dark convinced Meeke that valour’s better
half really was all about discretion.
“We were the full 90-degrees to the road,” said Meeke with a wry smile. “I thought, OK… and that just took a wee bit of the confidence.”
Asked for his input into the moment, co-driver Seb Marshall added: “I can’t really remember. It was probably one of those when my voice went an octave higher and I just kept on reading.”
First became third for Meeke, 3.6s behind Tanak – but just two-tenths down on last year’s Rally GB winner Sebastien Ogier in second place. Ogier was using all of the road and more as he sought to keep his Citroen in touch.
Citroen’s pre-event test had delivered hope of yet another step in its gravel pace for the C3 WRC which won last time out in Turkey. Revised suspension worked a treat, but when it came to homologating the new parts and set-up, the FIA reminded the team they would have to wait until 2020 to introduce those parts. Understandably, Ogier was not best pleased. But responded in the only way he knows how, by pushing that bit harder and wringing every ounce from what’s beneath him.
The Frenchman might have stemmed the loss of points to Tanak on the season’s roughest roads in Marmaris, but any hopes of claiming a seventh straight title would mean getting the better of him in Wales too.
The only other man capable of edging Tanak in the race to the title is Thierry Neuville. Fourth at the end of Friday, he was frustrated on more than one count.
“The first two stages – Elsi and Penmachno – we had good grip,” he said, “but after that, we are having to drive the car more sideways to go quickly. We have a longer wheelbase, so when we are sideways, we are using more of the road.”
His other frustration was rather more prosaic.
“I was given the wrong tyres for this afternoon,” he said. “I wanted four softs and one medium, but I was given three softs and two mediums.”
How?
“I don’t know. This was not my choice, it was some kind of internal mistake. It shouldn’t have happened, but these things can happen. It’s not good though, we lost nine seconds to Tanak in this loop.”