Tänak scored his second win of the year at last week’s Central European Rally, shrinking Neuville's championship lead to 25 points ahead of the final round. Toyota rivals Sébastien Ogier and Elfyn Evans were both ruled out of the title race, meaning history will be made this season as a Hyundai driver will wear the drivers' crown for the first time ever.
Tänak, who won his sole drivers' title in 2019, feels the direction of this year's fight is out of his hands.
“It’s not up to me,” he said. “Thierry will decide. All I can do is push in Japan and try to score as many points as possible.
Mon 21 Oct 2024
Tänak: 'Neuville holds the cards in WRC title fight'
Ott Tänak will take a direct and flat-out approach to next month’s FORUM8 Rally Japan, but he admits it’s his team-mate Thierry Neuville who sits very much in the driving seat in the race for this year’s WRC title.
“CER was really intense. It was demanding from the start, with four drivers so close together and never more than 10 seconds apart. The conditions were never easy, and although the weather was better on Sunday, it was still challenging and unpredictable.
“It was a big fight into Sunday with Séb [Ogier], we really tried to push today to secure the win. It’s good for the team that only a Hyundai driver can win the title, but there’s still a battle coming with Toyota for the manufacturers’.”
Hyundai heads to Japan with a 15-point advantage over Toyota in the manufacturers' championship. That gap had stood at 17 before round 12.
Japan
Poland
Turkey