Together with Sébastien Loeb, Ott Tänak now has the most wins in the Jyväskylä World Rally Championship among foreign drivers. Tänak now also joined Jari-Matti Latvala. The two had a warm moment in front of the media.
16:32•Updated 16:35
JYVÄSKYLÄ. Estonian Ott Tänak too the victory also meant that Toyota’s incredible winning streak in the Jyväskylä World Rally Championship came to an end.
Toyota, based in central Finland, had won the Jyväskylä World Rally every time since returning to the World Series in 2017.
Team manager Jari-Matti Latvala according to Tänak, driving a Hyundai, the victory was a surprise, considering Tänak and by Thierry Neuville comments about his weaker car at Thursday’s tester test.
– When you think about those tricks in retrospect, you’re left wondering if a clever game was played during the test special exam? Was it that they knew the car was better, drove a little carefully and gave different comments. We were fooled a bit. I got the feeling that maybe this is what happened here, Latvala said.
So did you go into this mess?
– Maybe we went a bit far to be honest, Latvala answered.
However, Latvala wanted to emphasize that you cannot win in Jyväskylä if you have a bad car.
– Must be a good car. Tänak had to drive more aggressively, but these new (hybrid) cars have to be driven a little more aggressively. Maybe Tänak was not in his comfort zone, Latvala said.
Shortly after this, the winner Tänak came to the interview area. Latvala stopped speaking to the Finnish media and gave sincere congratulations to the Estonian. Tänak responded by acknowledging that he now rose to the same level as Latvala in the Jyväskylä World Rally Championship victories.
– I am now as good as you, Tänak threw.
– I will come back next year, Latvala joked in response.
– Keep your word! Tänak laughed.
– Okay, I will come back one day, I don’t know if it will be next year, Latvala laughed and continued.
– I have 209 World Cup rallies. I have to get 210 MM rallies, Latvala threw the two in a warm meeting.
Tänak also rose Sébastien Loeb along with being the foreigner with the most wins in the Jyväskylä World Rally Championship.
– This was perhaps also my bravest and perhaps my stupidest performance, Tänak, who raised his first place to one of the best wins of his career, stated.
Journalists have been trying to ask Tänak all weekend about a possible Thursday blunder, but Tänak also played poker on this topic until the end.
– Of course, Tänak answered with a grin to the question about the theory presented by Jari-Matti Latvala.