Ott Tänak is out for the weekend at Rally Finland after a heavy impact damaged his Ford Puma Rally1 too severely to be able to restart tomorrow.
The Estonian lost power in stage 3 of the rally after a heavy impact damaged the engine of his Puma Rally1. Tänak was already pessimistic about his chances of returning under Rally2 regulations, saying to WRC TV: “It’s quite probable that there is a hole in the engine somewhere. So, I think that this one should be finished.”
M-Sport confirmed early in the afternoon that the team “have been left with no choice but to retire Ott’s car from Rally Finland.”
Tänak posted about his retirement: “Due to impact damage on SS3, sadly we have been left with no choice but to retire from Rally Finland.
Of course we are disappointed, after Estonia this isn’t how we wanted this week to go. It’s a shame we can’t continue but the car is too damaged for us to carry on.
Now it’s time to have a break after a busy few months, then we will focus fully on Greece in September.”
It was a disappointing morning for M-Sport as Pierre-Louis Loubet was forced to retire on SS3 as well after running wide and damaging the rear-left suspension of his Puma Rally1.
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Photo: M-Sport