Rally Turkey: Day 4 A Power Stage win and crucial points for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing

Sep. 16, 2019

Ott Tänak claimed the Power Stage win in his Toyota Yaris WRC while Jari-Matti Latvala and Kris Meeke secured crucial points for the manufactuers’ championship on the final day of a tough Rally Turkey.

: Car 8 (Ott Tänak, Martin Järveoja)

Tänak restarted this morning, after he had to retire from the second leg of the rally on Saturday. His focus was on claiming the full five bonus points on offer in the Power Stage, even taking no spare tyres for the final loop of four stages to keep weight to a minimum. Even though he was running first of the World Rally Cars, Tänak achieved the fastest time by 2.6 seconds. It means he leads the drivers’ standings by 17 points with three rallies to go.

For Latvala and Meeke, the final day was mostly about consolidating their positions in sixth and seventh respectively, having slipped back in heavy rain on Friday afternoon and suffered from their subsequent road positions on Saturday. Their results ensure TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team are within 19 points of the lead of the manufacturers’ championship.

Quotes

Tommi Mäkinen (Team Principal)

“It was good that Ott could get the five points from the Power Stage today to boost his championship situation, and that Jari-Matti and Kris brought it home without any issues. Yesterday was difficult for us, and maybe we didn’t quite get our preparation right for this rally, because the conditions are so challenging. For the remaining rallies we know that we have good speed and we feel confident that we can be strong from now until the end of the season.”

Ott Tänak (Driver car 8)

“We had nothing to lose today and we gave it everything, and we’re happy that we were able to get these points from the Power Stage. I’m sure it gives an extra boost and motivation going forward. Of course, it is still disappointing what happened yesterday. We always want to fight back and fight back hard. I’m sure everyone in the team will keep pushing. There are now three rounds left so there is nothing else we can do, other than push to the maximum and do our best.”

Jari-Matti Latvala (Driver car 10)

“I tried to keep a good rhythm today and enjoy the driving, and the stages were nice today, much better conditions and not so rocky and rough. We came here expecting that we would have more performance than last year, but it seems that all the teams have made some steps forward. We also did some work but we were struggling in the hard, rocky conditions and were using our tyres too much. This is something we have to learn for the future, but I know that the next rally in Wales will suit us a lot better.”

Kris Meeke (Driver car 5)

“Today was just about preserving our position and bringing home the points for the team. It’s been a tough weekend, since the long stage on Friday afternoon when we lost a lot of time in the rain, which put us into a bad road position for Saturday. We’ve struggled for a bit of speed here and it was about damage limitation in the end. But we’ll come back stronger in the last three rallies.”

FINAL RESULT, RALLY TURKEY

1: Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia (Citroën C3 WRC) 3h50m12.1s

2: Esapekka Lappi / Janne Ferm (Citroën C3 WRC) +34.7s

3: Andreas Mikkelsen / Anders Jaeger-Amland (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +1m04.5s

4: Teemu Suninen / Jarmo Lehtinen (Ford Fiesta WRC) +1m35.1s

5: Dani Sordo / Carlos del Barrio (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +2m25.9s

6: Jari-Matti Latvala / Miikka Anttila (Toyota Yaris WRC) +2m59.1s

7: Kris Meeke / Seb Marshall (Toyota Yaris WRC) +3m53.3s

8: Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +5m34.8s

9: Pontus Tidemand / Ola Fløene (Ford Fiesta WRC) +7m22.9s

10: Gus Greensmith / Elliott Edmondson (Ford Fiesta R5 MkII) +15m18.7s

16: Ott Tänak / Martin Järveoja (Toyota Yaris WRC) +39m10.2s

(Results as of 14:30 on Sunday, for the latest results please visit www.wrc.com)

What’s next?

Rally GB (October 3-6) takes place on gravel roads in the forests of Wales, which in dry conditions can be driven at fairly high speeds. In autumn the pace is often tempered by mud, which can make the surfaces treacherously slippery. Fog and even ice can add to the challenge, particularly early in the morning or late in the evening.