The 2019 World Rally Champion is back with the British squad after three years at Hyundai Motorsport, a spell where he failed to finish Rallye Monte-Carlo.
Tänak and co-driver Martin Järveoja completed a day and a half of running in the French Alps and enjoyed the best possible mixture of conditions with a wide variety of weather conditions, ranging from dry asphalt through to ice and even snow.
That test has given the Estonian a confidence boost ahead of round one.
“When you are coming with a new car, it’s good to have an idea of how it’s going to feel in the conditions,” he said. “We don’t know what is coming on the rally, but the test was enjoyable – it was good to be back with this team.
“It would be nice to have had more time for the testing, but this is Monte and it’s not always about having the perfect car set-up. You need to have a car that’s comfortable and for sure the Puma was not difficult to drive.”
This week marks Tänak’s 10th visit to Monte-Carlo. Prior to his trio of DNFs in the last three years, he finished on the podium three times, finishing second in 2018. The top-three is where he’s looking to be this time around.
“It’s hard to say, like we know, Monte can be complicated,” said Tänak, “but I would be happy to be on the podium on Sunday.”
- Full coverage from Rallye Monte-Carlo will be available on WRC+ All Live here, including every stage broadcast as it happens as well as key interviews, features and expert analysis from the service park
Finland
Italy
Hungary