Ott Tanak reflects on the benefits of his time away from full-time competition, revealing how it has strengthened his desire to return to the WRC and challenge for another world title in 2027.
Tanak secured his maiden WRC drivers’ championship in 2019 alongside co-driver Martin Järveoja, driving the Toyota Yaris WRC. The Estonian claimed six victories during that campaign, becoming the first driver other than Sébastien Ogier or Sébastien Loeb to win the title since 2003.
At the end of 2019, Tanak made the move to Hyundai Motorsport, beginning a new chapter in his career. He remained with the Korean manufacturer until 2022, before spending the 2023 season with M-Sport Ford. He returned to Hyundai in 2024 for a second spell, which lasted until the end of 2025. During his time with the team, he played an important role in Hyundai’s success, contributing to the manufacturers’ championship victory in 2020. Across his two periods with the squad, Tanak and Jarveoja recorded eight WRC wins and 28 podium finishes.
However, after the 2025 season, Tanak decided to step away from full-time competition, explaining that he wanted to spend more time with his family in Estonia and take a break after many demanding years at the highest level of rallying. His departure from Hyundai marked the end of a successful partnership, although he made it clear that it was not necessarily a permanent goodbye to the sport.
The 2026 season therefore became a different experience for the 2019 world champion. Although he did not compete in the WRC, he remained involved in rallying after joining Toyota as a development driver, helping the Japanese manufacturer prepare its new-generation cars for the 2027 regulations. The role gave him the opportunity to continue driving and contribute to the development of the GR Yaris Rally1 and GR Celica Rally1, while also allowing him to enjoy time away from the pressure of a full championship campaign.
His comeback has now been confirmed for 2027, when he will reunite with Toyota and Jarveoja as part of the GAZOO Racing TOYOTA line-up. The Estonian will drive the new GR Yaris Rally1 under the revised WRC27 regulations, alongside Takamoto Katsuta and fellow returning world champion Kalle Rovanpera. It will be a particularly significant reunion, bringing Tanak back to the manufacturer with which he achieved the greatest success of his career, seven years after their 2019 championship triumph.
"Τhis year was good in a way that we had time for myself but still I had quite a bit of driving and I could enjoy driving the rally car", Tanak said.
"Definitely, the time away from the WRC has been helping the hunger for another world title and I’m grateful for that time and I really enjoyed it to be honest.
"I guess at some moment you start to miss a bit the competition and obviously the work.
"The team is professional, there is no question, and the way we've been working I think it's also something that convinced me that we should still work together and go racing.
"There is no question that the team has grown a lot since 2019.
"It was still a very young team when I joined it for the first time, and now in the meantime, we can see the history already behind, and many more drivers have come on board.
"Generally, inside the team, it's very competitive.
"So definitely there are many changes from 2019".
Photo Credits: Toyota
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