Tänak: Toyota were too strong for us in Chile

While the Estonian’s third place in Concepción moved him further clear of Sébastien Ogier, Toyota’s leading threat in the drivers’ championship, the 2019 world champion felt it was hard to talk too positively about an event he won with M-Sport Ford 12 months ago.

Tänak said: “It is difficult to take many positives from this weekend. We were a bit lucky that [Sébastien] Ogier hit trouble on Friday, but other than that there was nothing we could do to take the fight to the Toyotas. We gave Rally Chile our maximum and scored everything we could.”

On a personally positive note, Tänak narrowed the gap between himself and his series-leading team-mate Thierry Neuville by five points, meaning he heads into the final two rounds with 29 points separating him and the Belgian. Running second on the asphalt roads at Central Europe Rally and FORUM8 Rally Japan should provide a further positive.

Tänak added: “In normal circumstances our road position should be good for us. It’s been a while since we’ve been competing on the Tarmac, but it should be OK.”

While Tänak hasn’t won either of the final two rounds, he has landed a podium on both.