Ott Tänak wants to go all out at the Rally Finland in early August 2023 – But it takes a “perfect package” to come out on top
The 1000 Lakes Rally in Finland is considered one of the biggest challenges on the World Rally Championship (WRC) calendar. The gravel rally in the forests around Jyväskylä is very fast and makes for spectacular pictures with numerous big jumps on the special stages. Ott Tänak wants to attack fully at the Rally Finland, which he has already won in 2018, 2019 and 2022, and claim his second win of the season. It won’t be easy, as the vehicle set-up is particularly important in Finland.
The Ford Puma from M-Sport is inferior to the Toyota in the 2023 season, but Tänak has proven in the past that he can also win with such a car. In 2022, the Estonian still competed for Hyundai and won the Rally Finland despite weaker material. As the underdog, Tänak wants to repeat the feat, as he currently sees M-Sport behind the two Asian brands.
“At the moment we have quite a big deficit in pace and that was definitely different last year,” Tänak said ahead of the event in Finland, which takes place from 3-6 August. “In Finland a driver needs a perfect package to have the pace.” The 35-year-old is in dire need of a good result as he is fourth in the overall standings behind Kalle Rovanperä, Elfyn Evans and Thierry Neuville.
Set-up in focus at M-Sport
“We will just try, but we don’t have the possibility to improve our performance in a big way,” explained the Estonian. “We will still give it our all and see how far we can get.” Most recently, Tänak did well at his home rally in Estonia, but was hit with a five-minute penalty for an engine change that cost him good points.
Toyota and local hero Rovanperä will not be easy to beat in Finland, because the Japanese used a homologation joker in Estonia to introduce an engine upgrade. M-Sport did without the joker and did not make any improvements to the Ford Puma. Instead, the team is going for a perfect set-up and has focused on the shock absorbers during tests and national rallies.
BREAKING: Testing plans have changed for M-Sport Ford and they entered Pierre-Louis Loubet instead of Ott Tänak.
Loubet will drive in HYAcenterRally with new co-driver Arnaud Dunand.
: @SaariJarno pic.twitter.com/hct8XkfVtz– HYAcenter Ralli / PR-Racing ry (@HYAcenterRally) July 24, 2023
Team boss Richard Millener therefore speaks of “hard” work at M-Sport to give his drivers the “package” they need. “These are people who are giving their all because they are as frustrated with the results as Ott is,” he says. “We deserved more, but we have to keep pushing. There are no huge jumps, but I think the improvements from the wildcards are a bit misleading as well. “
Upgrades often overrated
According to Millener, Toyota did bring upgrades in Estonia, but with development frozen in many places, it is hard to take big steps up the performance ladder. The WRC has done this to keep costs under control and competition close. “Kalle won in Finland, but the other two Toyotas didn’t just drive away at the front,” analyses the M-Sport team boss.
“That’s why there are no ground-breaking upgrades for me,” Millener adds. “It’s just small steps. We are also working on it and many results have their origin in the performance, the feeling and the confidence of the drivers.” The Rally Finland starts on Thursday 3 August and takes in a total of 22 special stages to be tackled by the M-Sport Ford, Toyota and Hyundai drivers in the top WRC class.