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Ott Tanak has refused to rule out a return to the World Rally Championship with Toyota next year, but admits that “for the moment there is no plan.”
The 2019 world champion has been absent from the WRC this year after announcing plans to step away from the championship at the end of 2025.
However, in recent months Tanak has returned to the wheel, joining Toyota as a test driver to help the manufacturer develop its all-new 2027 WRC car for next season.
The role included a return to the stages this weekend, with Tanak and co-driver Martin Jarvoeja driving a standard Toyota GR Rally Rally2 car non-competitively at the Rally di Roma Capitale round of the European Rally Championship.
Tanak and Jarveoja drove what is known as a 0-B car at the event which is effectively a demonstration car that runs between the double zero and official zero cars and allows organisers to feature selected drivers for promotional purposes without them competing against the clock.
Toyota chose to deploy Tanak at the rally to gather knowledge of Rome’s asphalt stages, with the rally expected to step up from the ERC and host Italy’s round of the WRC next season, replacing Sardinia’s gravel stages.
Ott Tänak, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1
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Ott Tänak, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1
When asked if there was a chance he would feature either in the WRC or with Toyota next year, Tanak told Rally Dreamer TV: “Never say never to be honest, but for the moment there is no plan.”
After completing Saturday’s all-new itinerary in Rome, Tanak was impressed by the stages and believes they are of the quality required for the WRC.
“They were surprisingly demanding stages on Saturday. There is quite a lot of broken tarmac and they are quite dirty. It is challenging but they are good stages,” he told Rallylink.it.
“I think the material is there [for the WRC] and the stages are demanding enough as well, so the potential is there.”
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