Yesterday’s pacesetter in the 80th ORLEN Rally Poland Shakedown has been forced to retire from the rally early on Friday as Ott Tänak and co-driver Martin Järveoja had to stop on the SS2 Stańczyki 1 stage in the morning.
Tänak and his co-driver set off as the second car on the nearly 30-kilometre special stage, but their journey ended prematurely with a retirement before the finish line and later Tänak confirmed in an interview that the crew had a collision with a deer.
The collision with the deer was severe enough to damage the front of the Hyundai completely which includes the radiator was damaged. However, the Estonian is likely to be able to continue the rally on Saturday as the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 machine can be repaired.
Before the retirement, Tänak was performing well and was considered a favourite to win the fast gravel rally, a rally he also was close to win in 2016 before a puncture halted his victory on the last stage, Poland visits the FIA World Rally Championship calendar for the first time in seven years. While he is no longer in contention for the victory, the new points system still allows Tänak to secure decent points during the remainder of the rally.
