Tanak: Car rolled three or four times

Ott Tanak has said it was a 'big disappointment' he crashed out of Rally de Portugal on Saturday, but that he was going to quick and simply 'couldn't kill the speed'.

Tanak was one of the stars on the opening day, finishing it second overall in his M-Sport-run Ford Fiesta RS WRC, just 3.7 seconds off team-mate, Mikko Hirvonen. Although he then slipped to third on Saturday morning in SS9, he remained well placed, until he clipped a bank in the next test, the 22.15 km Malhao stage and rolled his car several times. He was unable to then re-start on Sunday as the roll cage was too badly damaged.

"It was in quite a tricky place - a section with lots of fast corners and crests leading up to a slower bend. We were a bit too late and couldn't kill the speed. We hit the bank, and the car rolled about three or four times," Tanak recalled.

"It's a big disappointment for me because until then everything was going really well. I was really happy with our performance and the speed that we were consistently able to set."

"We need to remember, though, that my partnership with Raigo [Molder - my co-driver] is still very new. We need to learn," he added.

M-Sport managing director, Malcolm Wilson OBE, noted: "It was a real shame that we lost Ott, he was doing a fantastic job and was consistently on the pace of the front runners.

"Unfortunately, this is a very technical and challenging rally, and he became one of many to be caught out on the stages."