Ott Tänak
Driver profile
Career Summary
Info
| Nationality: |
 EST
|
| Date of Birth: |
15.10.1987 |
| Age: |
31 |
| First Rally: |
2009, Portugal |
| Rally Wins: |
6 |
| Website: |
https://otttanak.com/ |
Season 2019
| Classification: |
WRC |
| Car No: |
8 |
| Car: |
Toyota Yaris WRC |
| Team: |
Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team |
| Co-driver: |
Martin Järveoja |
| Points: |
240 |
| Standing: |
1 |
| Rally Wins: |
6 |
| Retirements: |
0 |
| Podiums: |
8 |
Social Media
Here’s what makes him special
• Determined, intense and at times blisteringly quick, he lets his driving do the talking.
• Came of age in 2017 as he took his first WRC victory at Rally Italia Sardegna, before another maximum points haul at ADAC Rallye Deutschland.
• Discovered a winning edge in 2018 as he impressively scooped four victories in Toyota's Yaris WRC.
The story so far
Tänak’s career began in his native Estonia and he won the national championship in 2008 and 2009, driving for a team run by fellow countryman and ex-Ford driver Markko Märtin.
He won the European Pirelli Star Driver shootout, earning a PWRC support category programme in the 2010 WRC in which he finished fourth.
In 2011 Tänak was behind the wheel of a Ford Fiesta S2000 in SWRC. Victories in Italy, Germany and France sent him to the final round in Spain with a title chance but he had to settle for the runners-up spot.
His performance earned him promotion to the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team for 2012. However, it was a disappointing year and despite a maiden podium at the penultimate round in Sardinia, Tänak was dropped at the end of the season.
He made his comeback in 2014, combining WRC 2 in a Ford Fiesta R5 with three events back in an M-Sport Fiesta RS World Rally Car. Armed with new levels of maturity and focus, he took fifth in Sweden and won WRC 2 in Poland.
Tänak was invited back into the full-time M-Sport fold for 2015, filling the vacancy left by the retiring Mikko Hirvonen.
His season took a scary turn in Mexico when his Fiesta went off the road and was submerged in a lake. Footage of his astonishing escape went viral and made ‘the raising of the Ti- Tänak’ one of the most talked about WRC stories for many years.
He was dropped for a second time at the end of the season, but stayed with Fiesta RS power to drive in 2016 with the newly-formed DMACK World Rally Team.
Helping the tyre firm develop its new WRC range meant Tänak was frequently on the ragged edge, but he had his successes too. He secured second places in Poland and Wales, and Poland could have been even better had it not been for a last-minute puncture that cruelly denied him a maiden win.
For 2017, Tänak returned to M-Sport’s manufacturer squad and proved a revelation as he secured third in the drivers' standings, claiming his first victory in Italy and adding another win on Germany’s asphalt.
A move to Toyota Gazoo Racing proved a masterstroke as Tänak found his winning edge in the Yaris WRC in 2018. Four victories gave him a chance to win the drivers' title but his challenge faded during the last two months of the season and he finished third.
A second season with the Japanese manufacturer awaits in 2019.
• Determined, intense and at times blisteringly quick, he lets his driving do the talking.
• Came of age in 2017 as he took his first WRC victory at Rally Italia Sardegna, before another maximum points haul at ADAC
Rallye Deutschland.
• Discovered a winning edge in 2018 as he impressively scooped four victories in Toyota's Yaris WRC.
The story so far
Tänak’s career began in his native Estonia and he won the national championship in 2008 and 2009, driving for a team run by
fellow countryman and ex-Ford driver Markko Märtin.
He won the European Pirelli Star Driver shootout, earning a PWRC support category programme in the 2010 WRC in which he finished
fourth.
In 2011 Tänak was behind the wheel of a Ford Fiesta S2000 in SWRC. Victories in Italy, Germany and France sent him to the
final round in Spain with a title chance but he had to settle for the runners-up spot.
His performance earned him promotion to the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team for 2012. However, it was a disappointing year and
despite a maiden podium at the penultimate round in Sardinia, Tänak was dropped at the end of the season.
He made his comeback in 2014, combining WRC 2 in a Ford Fiesta R5 with three events back in an M-Sport Fiesta RS World Rally
Car. Armed with new levels of maturity and focus, he took fifth in Sweden and won WRC 2 in Poland.
Tänak was invited back into the full-time M-Sport fold for 2015, filling the vacancy left by the retiring Mikko Hirvonen.
His season took a scary turn in Mexico when his Fiesta went off the road and was submerged in a lake. Footage of his astonishing
escape went viral and made ‘the raising of the Ti- Tänak’ one of the most talked about WRC stories for many years.
He was dropped for a second time at the end of the season, but stayed with Fiesta RS power to drive in 2016 with the newly-formed
DMACK World Rally Team.
Helping the tyre firm develop its new WRC range meant Tänak was frequently on the ragged edge, but he had his successes too.
He secured second places in Poland and Wales, and Poland could have been even better had it not been for a last-minute puncture
that cruelly denied him a maiden win.
For 2017, Tänak returned to M-Sport’s manufacturer squad and proved a revelation as he secured third in the drivers' standings,
claiming his first victory in Italy and adding another win on Germany’s asphalt.
A move to Toyota Gazoo Racing proved a masterstroke as Tänak found his winning edge in the Yaris WRC in 2018. Four victories
gave him a chance to win the drivers' title but his challenge faded during the last two months of the season and he finished
third.
A second season with the Japanese manufacturer awaits in 2019.
| Rally |
Classification |
Co-driver |
Rank |
Points |
 Rallye Monte-Carlo |
WRC |
Martin Järveoja |
3. |
15+2 |
 Rally Sweden |
WRC |
Martin Järveoja |
1. |
25+5 |
 Rally Guanajuato México |
WRC |
Martin Järveoja |
2. |
18 |
 Xion Rally Argentina |
WRC |
Martin Järveoja |
8. |
4+1 |
 COPEC Rally Chile |
WRC |
Martin Järveoja |
1. |
25+5 |
 Vodafone Rally de Portugal |
WRC |
Martin Järveoja |
1. |
25+3 |
 Corsica Linea - Tour de Corse |
WRC |
Martin Järveoja |
6. |
8+4 |
 Rally Italia Sardegna |
WRC |
Martin Järveoja |
5. |
10 |
 Neste Rally Finland |
WRC |
Martin Järveoja |
1. |
25+5 |
 ADAC Rallye Deutschland |
WRC |
Martin Järveoja |
1. |
25 |
 Rally Turkey |
WRC |
Martin Järveoja |
10. |
0+5 |
 Wales Rally GB |
WRC |
Martin Järveoja |
1. |
25+5 |
| Season |
Classification |
Starts |
1. |
2. |
3. |
Car |
Points |
Standing |
| 2019 |
WRC |
12 |
6 |
1 |
1 |
Toyota Yaris WRC |
240 |
1. |
| 2018 |
WRC |
12 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
Toyota Yaris WRC |
181 |
3. |
| 2017 |
WRC |
13 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
Ford Fiesta WRC |
191 |
3. |
| 2016 |
WRC |
13 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
Ford Fiesta RS WRC |
88 |
8. |
| 2015 |
WRC |
13 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
Ford Fiesta RS WRC |
63 |
10. |
| 2014 |
WRC |
10 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Ford Fiesta R5 |
17 |
15. |
| 2014 |
WRC2 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Ford Fiesta R5 |
78 |
6. |
| 2012 |
WRC |
12 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
Ford Fiesta RS WRC |
52 |
8. |
| 2011 |
WRC |
8 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Ford Fiesta S2000 |
15 |
15. |
| 2011 |
S-WRC |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Ford Fiesta S2000 |
113 |
2. |
| 2010 |
P-WRC |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
78 |
4. |
| 2017 |
Signs to M-Sport, collects his first victory at Rally Italia Sardegna and a second in Germany |
| 2016 |
Two second places (Poland and Wales) |
| 2015 |
Five top-three finishes including third place in Poland. |
| 2014 |
Makes WRC return driving a Ford Fiesta in both WRC 2 and WRC |
| 2012 |
Joins M-Sport Ford WRT, best result of third in Sardegna |
| 2011 |
Second in SWRC, makes first WRC appearance in World Rally Car |
| 2010 |
Fourth in PWRC |
| 2009 |
Makes WRC debut at Vodafone Rally de Portugal |
| 2008 |
Estonian Rally Champion (N4 and S2000 class) |
