Tanak emerged in the battle for victory at the asphalt event after rally leader Rovanpera picked up a front left puncture, which cost the Finn almost a minute of his 1m23s advantage on Stage 11.
The Hyundai driver managed to apply pressure on Rovanpera throughout the afternoon, closing to within 13s of the Finn, before Rovanpera stamped his authority on the rally again to extend his lead to 19.9s by winning Saturday’s final stage.
While Tanak admits his chances of overhauling the leader are slim, he feels the fact Rovanpera pushed on Stage 16 shows that he is under pressure.
“This afternoon we were trying but there wasn’t the confidence and feeling to really go for the limit,” said Tanak.
“He [Kalle] made his statement and definitely there is plenty of speed. Let’s see, in a way it is good if he needs to do these statements, it means he needs to push.
“The conditions are getting cleaner and easier but we are still lacking quite a bit of speed.
“I’m not happy with second but at the moment with that speed that they [Rovanpera] have in the pocket and what we have, extra risk is not paying any dividends I guess, but let’s see.”
Ott Tänak, Martin Järveoja, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1
Photo by: Fabien Dufour / Hyundai Motorsport
Hyundai is fighting for a double podium with Thierry Neuville sitting 4.9s adrift of third-placed M-Sport driver Craig Breen despite an eventful rally so far.
The Belgian was only 12.5s behind leader Rovanpera after Stage 4 on Friday before an alternator issue resulted in a late check in to service, incurring a 40s penalty. This came after Neuville and co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe were forced to push their i20 N for 800m to reach the service park.
The pair were then handed a one-minute penalty and a €1,900 fine on Friday night after being clocked driving at 156kph on a road section limited to 80kph following Stage 4, dropping the duo from second to fourth. Hyundai has since confirmed that it has…
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