Breaking news
WRC Rally Great Britain
Tanak blames windscreen wiper for Rally GB crash
Ott Tanak has blamed a windscreen wiper issue for his Wales Rally GB shakedown crash.
Jack Benyon David Evans
Edited: Oct 4, 2018, 1:41 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Tanak became disoriented while braking for a tight and tricky right-hander because of the wiper issue.
The corner is well known to drivers who regularly rally in the Clocaenog forest, where the shakedown test is situated, and heavy rain in the build-up to the event made the road extremely slippy.
The car crashed front-first into a bank with its rear wheels suspended, and spectators had to jump up and down on the rear to give the car traction to escape the small ditch on the outside of the corner.
Tanak was able to complete the 30-minute drive back to Deeside, where Toyota issued repairs and the Estonian was able to head back out to do more shakedown runs.
"I had some electrical issue with the wipers, there was something before the corner and I tried to get them in the position so I could see out of the screen again," said Tanak.
"When I looked out the corner was already there and I was much too quick, I should have been concentrating on the main job.
"There was a small hole in the top corner of the radiator which was leaking water. I was able to fix it and get back to service. We lost a couple of hours."
The Estonian – who confirmed the car was "OK" after his later shakedown runs – is on a run of three straight rally wins and sits 13 points behind series leader Thierry Neuville and 10 points ahead of reigning champion Sebastien Ogier.
Teemu Suninen had been fastest in tge shakedown for most of the session as drivers struggled to improve on their first couple of runs, the road churning up in places making the going even more slippy.
Toyota's Jari-Matti Latvala headed a three-way tie – as he set his time first – ahead of Suninen's M-Sport Ford teammates Elfyn Evans and Ogier in that order. Ogier bucked the trend by going fastest on his fourth run of the stage.
Of the title contenders, Ogier was highest in the order, with Thierry Neuville in sixth and Tanak in 11th after his late runs.
Skoda driver Kalle Rovanpera topped WRC2 entrants, days after his 18th birthday, ahead of Eric Camilli and new Citroen driver Ole Christian Veiby.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Ogier gave Ford "ultimatum" before Citroen switch
Next article Rally GB: “Intense” WRC title contenders rate their chances
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jack Benyon
Aitken, Samaia make up Campos' F2 line-up
FIA F2
FIA F2
Aitken, Samaia make up Campos' F2 line-up
DiBenedetto intends to “turn heads” with Wood Brothers
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
DiBenedetto intends to “turn heads” with Wood Brothers
Tanak "learned a very good lesson" from Monte crash
WRC
WRC
Tanak "learned a very good lesson" from Monte crash
More from
Ott Tanak
Ott Tanak to make ARA debut on WRC fact finding mission
WRC
WRC
Ott Tanak to make ARA debut on WRC fact finding mission
Ott Tanak: Never say never on WRC 2027 return but “no plan” for the moment
WRC
WRC
Rally Greece
Ott Tanak: Never say never on WRC 2027 return but “no plan” for the moment
Latest news
Max Verstappen on GTWC Europe debut: “We’re here to win”
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance
WCEE GT World Challenge Europe Endurance 6 h
Max Verstappen on GTWC Europe debut: “We’re here to win”
How to watch NASCAR at Phoenix II: Weekend schedule, start time, entry list, TV
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
6 h
How to watch NASCAR at Phoenix II: Weekend schedule, start time, entry list, TV
Ryan Ellis signs multi-year NASCAR O'Reilly deal with Alpha Prime Racing
NASCAR O'Reilly
NOAP NASCAR O'Reilly
Phoenix II
7 h
Ryan Ellis signs multi-year NASCAR O'Reilly deal with Alpha Prime Racing
Ayao Komatsu: Rafael Camara chosen for F1 2027 seat on speed, not Ferrari links
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Singapore GP
13 h
Ayao Komatsu: Rafael Camara chosen for F1 2027 seat on speed, not Ferrari links
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe