Ott Tänak - Future champion?

[sti123]

Markko Märtin is Ott's mentor/manager and Ott's move to Hyundai was his decision because he needed new R5 business for Red Grey team, as Toyota finished Katsutas development program with him (Katsutas Ford R5 was rented from RG Team). Money talks, now Ott's wife is sitting in the board of the joint company with MM, SQM2 Invest, their 2020 turnover was 5 089 857€, 2021 4 347 259€.

[linni]

Markko Märtin is Ott's mentor/manager and Ott's move to Hyundai was his decision because he needed new R5 business for Red Grey team, as Toyota finished Katsutas development program with him (Katsutas Ford R5 was rented from RG Team). Money talks, now Ott's wife is sitting in the board of the joint company with MM, SQM2 Invest, their 2020 turnover was 5 089 857€, 2021 4 347 259€.

It`s really hard, if not possible to imagine, that Markko could make a decision for Ott. Ott, being solid "saarlane" (i.e.islander, something like an old tough-as-rock scotch fart). He is anything else but a stupid person.
Not saying, R5 program had no impact, but that was definitely not the main reason.

Besides, Ott is probably making this 5 mil euros and more a year only on salary and bonuses. And this is net income, not turnover, where profit could be even negative.

[Kradovech]

Just a heads up - the interview now has english subtitles, if any of you foreigners want to take a look

[mknight]

I agree that in 2019 Hyundai was on an upward trajectory. They improved the car on fast gravel (Finland 2019) and were spending tons of money on testing rallies with Loeb to improved tarmac (which ultimately didn't help).

While Toyota seemed a bit less ahead than at end of 2018 and has some issues like rims (though quite a few of those punctures were clearly driver mistakes, like Corsica 2019).

Anyway a big interview summing up the 2017 WRC cars era is exactly where these kinds of topics should be asked about ( if the interviewer is sharp). Ex. "Did you think you would make the car work on tarmac even after drivers like Loeb struggled?

The mentality of deliberately avoiding the topic by some people here is quite astonishing. Open wound?

. And like someone here said that with the new car he feels that all the mistakes are now ironed out and now they have wider window where they can operate and set things up.

Tanak says they never even tested the new car on gravel before homologation.

[Mirek]

Tanak says they never even tested the new car on gravel before homologation.

Which sounds like a recipe for disaster.

[bandit12]

Which sounds like a recipe for disaster.

It is hard not to agree with you. Hopefully they catch up.

[flat_right]

Tanak says they never even tested the new car on gravel before homologation.

This is true but it is not as dramatic as it might seem. They tested this first version of the car on gravel, which in Ott's words wasn't as different as Adamo claimed to be. He said that the "soul" of the car was still the same (differentials, suspension, some of car's geometry). And they had only planned 1 test anyway which was cancelled because of Thierry's accident. Also the first gravel rally is in the middle of May so they have plenty of time to test for gravel. So in Ott's words "they roughly know where they are on gravel".

[AnttiL]

This is true but it is not as dramatic as it might seem. They tested this first version of the car on gravel, which in Ott's words wasn't as different as Adamo claimed to be. He said that the "soul" of the car was still the same (differentials, suspension, some of car's geometry). And they had only planned 1 test anyway which was cancelled because of Thierry's accident. Also the first gravel rally is in the middle of May so they have plenty of time to test for gravel. So in Ott's words "they roughly know where they are on gravel".

I clicked "like" because it was interesting to hear from Ott that the car is not so different, I knew it was an Adamoism saying that only the rims are the same.

However, I want to add the same as in the news thread: the cars are homologated, all decisions are locked, you can only change the setup or create a homologation joker (when is the next date?) and testing days are very limited (only one day per driver per rally). So although the first gravel rally is in May, they cannot really do anything (except for run the car in their permanent test area / dyno / wind tunnel or do simulations).

[flat_right]

I clicked "like" because it was interesting to hear from Ott that the car is not so different, I knew it was an Adamoism saying that only the rims are the same.

However, I want to add the same as in the news thread: the cars are homologated, all decisions are locked, you can only change the setup or create a homologation joker (when is the next date?) and testing days are very limited (only one day per driver per rally). So although the first gravel rally is in May, they cannot really do anything (except for run the car in their permanent test area / dyno / wind tunnel or do simulations).

Totally understand and I'm also worried about this, to put it mildly. Just wanted to bring out the other side of it and not through speculations and guessing but through Ott's own words. And he admitted himself that the situation is not perfect but also not that bad as "haven't tested on gravel" might seem. The real development starts when they start rallying and gather data, see where they lack compared to others and what is good about this car.

[AnttiL]

Also good to remember that Toyota can test relatively unlimitedly on gravel in Jyväskylä and M-Sport in Greystoke (although that testing will not be that relevant to rallies like Acropolis and Kenya)