Tanak regains lost confidence

Ott Tanak says he was able to restore some of his flagging confidence by fighting back to score FIA World Rally Championship points on the Acropolis Rally last week.

Tanak has experienced a dip in form of late and endured more frustration when he retired on the opening day in Greece with suspension damage following an impact.

After returning under Rally 2 rules on day two, Estonian Tanak and co-driver Kuldar Sikk eventually finished in ninth position in their M-Sport Ford Fiesta RS WRC.

“It was more than a shame about Friday because on Saturday and Sunday we had quite a good run and were building our confidence with quite a good feeling in the car,” said Tanak. “I was satisfied with the stage times, especially on Sunday and we have got some of our confidence back. We had some problems, but that’s rallying. Now I feel better.”

While Tanak celebrated his fifth point-scoring finish of 2012, team-mate Evgeny Novikov was forced to retire on Sunday’s first stage as a result of damage inflicted on his car’s radiator on day two of the event.

After six rounds, Tanak is 12th in the WRC drivers’ standings.