Hyundai's Ott Tanak seals maiden Ypres Rally victory from Elfyn Evans
Tanak masterfully balanced risk and reward over the Sunday leg, which included a scratch time on the penultimate stage, to end the Tarmac classic 5 seconds clear of Elfyn Evans’ Toyota GR Yaris Rally1. The Estonian was gifted the lead of the rally on Saturday afternoon when team-mate Thierry Neuville retired after his car ran wide on a left-hander and ended up being swallowed by one of the country’s notoriously deep ditches. He got moving again with help from fans but pulled up just moments later such was the extent of the damage.
“To win here is a big surprise for us – more or less the same like it was in Finland,” said Tanak, who collected two additional points on the end-of-rally Power Stage with the fourth quickest time. We didn't expect it from anywhere basically, but somehow, we were able to pull it together during the rally. It’s great to see some results are coming but there is so much we can improve and we could still be a lot stronger, so there is still some work to do,” he added.
Evans had threatened to turn the screw on Tanak as the action shifted to Sunday, the pair separated by 8.2 seconds at the beginning of the final leg. He did cut the former World champion’s deficit initially, albeit slightly, but with stage miles running out fast, the decision was taken to dial things back. He could afford to do that as there was no immediate pressure being applied from third-placed Toyota team-mate Esapekka Lappi. On his first Ypres Rally start since 2014, the Finn was pleased at the “smart pace” he deployed across the weekend.
There was also reason for cheer in the Oliver Solberg camp. Fourth overall is a career best result for the young Swede and retribution for the criticism some levelled at him following his early exit from Rally Finland at the start of the month. “It was a tough weekend definitely and it was not easy on such difficult roads,” said Solberg in reference to the continual unndersteer that afflicted his i20 N Rally1. “I didn't have a good Tarmac rally last time in Croatia and after Finland it’s been a very tough couple of weeks. It’s nice to finally have something [to show for all of our efforts].”
Toyota Junior driver Takamoto Katsuta was denied the chance over Friday and Saturday to show his pace on asphalt and that continued into Sunday when, once again, the hybrid system on his GR Yaris Rally1 blew hot and cold. Yet in spite of this, the Japanese star was keen to prioritise the few positives that there were. “I must be happy because we survived this weekend and it was a tough weekend for us,” he said. “Big thanks to the team - of course some things were happening but everything was working well.”
Six Rally1 runners who managed to make it safely through to Sunday without having to rejoin under Super Rally rules were whittled down to six on the penultimate stage after M-Sport Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux slid off the road less than a mile into ‘Watou’. Video footage shows his Puma Rally1 being turned 180-degrees on itself before flashing down the road backwards and hitting a telegraph pole.
Kalle Rovanpera, meanwhile, achieved his mission of bagging all five Power Stage points having exited early on Friday to an off, with Evans collecting four, Neuville three, Tanak two and Katsuta one. With four rounds of the World Rally Championship still to play, Rovanpera holds a 74-point lead over Tanak, while Evans has moved up to third at the expense of Neuville.
