Ott Tanak says that M-Sport Ford had doubts about his car since yesterday and is aware of his being out of competition as Rally Estonia is a fast event compared to Safari Rally.
The 2019 WRC Champion was able to pass only once through the Shakedown stage in Kastre as his Puma suffered from an engine issue. His mechanics were forced to replace the old engine with a new one which is permitted by FIA, but he has received a five-minute time penalty for this change meaning that he is out of competition and it will be very difficult to catch his rivals in Estonia. As the championship enters to the second half of the season, Tanak is fourth overall on the standings and is behind Kalle Rovanpera for 42 points while it is expected that their gap will be increased after this weekend since Tanak starts Rally Estonia with a five-minute time penalty.
"It seems like the guys had doubts already yesterday and I was notified this morning as well that we might have something happen and unfortunately something did happen", Tanak said.
"For sure, the competition is gone.
"If this had been at Safari Rally then probably yes we could salvage something.
"But on a fast rally like this with short and very fast stages we are talking about seconds and tenths of seconds, not minutes".
Source: Motorsport.com
Photo Credits: M-Sport
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