Ott Tänak secured a strong second place at Wales Rally GB, after a rally long battle with World Champion Sebastién Ogier.
Tänak in the DMACK Ford Fiesta RS WRC, was the only driver able to keep pace with the Volkswagen driver throughout the event.
Tänak won all six of the day’s stages, including maximum Power Stage points, to reduce the +33.8 second overnight gap to just +10.2 seconds off the lead in the closest finish of the season.
This result was Ford’s most competitive run this season and equals DMACK’s best-ever WRC result, the other being second at Rally Poland this year.
Tänak reckoned that he would have won if he and Ogier had a similar road position.
The World Champion benefited running first on the road in the tricky, muddy conditions which were churned up for runner behind.
Suspension problems on Friday afternoon also cost Tänak 14 seconds, seconds that he couldn’t make up.
Tänak took full advantage of this as he cruised through to set 12 fastest stage times, the most of any driver in a rally this season.
“The stages yesterday afternoon and today were very slippery,” he said.
“But I think that was the place where the DMACK tyres were working the best and we had the advantage. We didn’t have the best road position but obviously we benefited from having the best tyres.”
“It was a great weekend. After a few issues on Friday we had a very clean run through all the stages and I really enjoyed being back in the battle fighting for the lead.”
Tänak’s performance drew praise from his boss, DMACK Managing Director Dick Cormack.
“This result is extremely significant for DMACK, with our British tyres leading the world-class field on our home WRC rally. We targeted this event and the plan worked perfectly thanks of course to a stunning performance from Ott.”
