{"id":156219,"date":"2025-11-27T11:15:39","date_gmt":"2025-11-27T11:15:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/156219\/"},"modified":"2025-11-27T11:15:39","modified_gmt":"2025-11-27T11:15:39","slug":"ott-tanak-opens-up-on-decision-to-leave-wrc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/156219\/","title":{"rendered":"Ott Tanak opens up on decision to leave WRC"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ott Tanak<\/a> has expanded on his decision to step away from the World Rally Championship, admitting it is \u201cquite a relief\u201d knowing Rally Saudi Arabia will be his last for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n

The 2019 world champion announced hours after finishing fourth at Rally Japan earlier this month that he plans to take a sabbatical from the WRC next year, forsaking a seat at Hyundai.<\/p>\n

In a lengthy statement, Tanak cited wishes to spend more time with his family as one of the key factors behind the move, but revealed that this \u201cisn\u2019t a complete goodbye\u201d and he won\u2019t be cutting ties with rallying completely.<\/p>\n

Read Also:<\/p>\n

When asked if he had any emotions knowing that this weekend\u2019s 2025 finale in Saudi Arabia will be his last for an indefinite period of time, he said he has \u201cno emotion\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tanak has cut a frustrated figure this season, having been unable to consistently take the fight to his Toyota rivals. Ahead of this weekend, Tanak is the only non-Toyota driver to win a WRC 2025 round, as he triumphed in Greece.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

When pressed further on his feelings, he said: “It is quite a relief to be honest. [The decision] was made towards the end of the summer and into the autumn.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked if he would miss the WRC, he replied: \u201cNot in the next half a year, for sure.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Ott <\/p>\n

Ott T\u00e4nak, Hyundai World Rally Team<\/p>\n

Photo by: Romain Thuillier \/ Hyundai Motorsport<\/p>\n

In the aftermath of the decision, Tanak\u2019s peers have paid tribute to the driver, saying that he will be missed from service park next year and will be a huge loss for the championship. Toyota\u2019s Takamoto Katsuta<\/a> even labelled the 38-year-old his \u201cbigger brother\u201d, such is the bond the pair have formed over the years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is always nice [to read the messages] obviously,\u201d said Tanak. \u201cI have been around for a long time. I guess we know the people in the WRC really well, and we don\u2019t spend any less time with these people than our families. Obviously we know each other very well and normally in rallying you can have good relationships, so that is nice for this sport.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Tanak has been clear that he has no ambitions to completely cut ties with rallying, his plans for 2026 remain open regarding any possible drives.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say generally it is all very open. I didn\u2019t want to retire like Sebastien [Ogier] did [in 2021] and do a big show and then come back next year. I guess life will show if we will continue or not,\u201d Tanak added.<\/p>\n

Hyundai yet to make decision on Tanak\u2019s replacement<\/p>\n

Tanak\u2019s decision has opened up a drive at Hyundai for 2026, with the Korean marque closing in on a solution to complete its driver line-up alongside Thierry Neuville<\/a> and Adrien Fourmaux<\/a>, who are both expected to continue next year.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hyundai’s sporting director Andrew Wheatley says the team has spoken to several candidates, but a decision is yet to be finalised. It is thought that Hyundai will opt for experience over youth with its choice.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Ott <\/p>\n

Ott Tanak, Martin J\u00e4rveoja, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1<\/p>\n

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are working very hard and every day there is a discussion and we are hoping that at finish\u00a0of this event we should be in a position to understand where we go forward. But no decision has been made at the moment,\u201d said Wheatley.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHyundai trusts the team to do whatever is necessary for the best performance. From the board\u2019s perspective they put the faith in the team to make the decision to go forward. The challenge is that replacing Ott is not easy. To replace like for like is not possible but we have to look at what we need to get the maximum number of points for next year, and that is the target.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have spoken to everybody because it is not an easy decision and because there are so many metrics in place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photos from Rally Saudi Arabia – Shakedown<\/p>\n

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\"Sebastien<\/p>\n


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\n Rally Saudi Arabia – Shakedown, in photos
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\"Sebastien<\/p>\n


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\n Rally Saudi Arabia – Shakedown, in photos
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\"Kalle<\/p>\n


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\n Rally Saudi Arabia – Shakedown, in photos
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\"Martins<\/p>\n


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\n Rally Saudi Arabia – Shakedown, in photos
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\"Sami<\/p>\n


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\n Rally Saudi Arabia – Shakedown, in photos
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\"Elfyn<\/p>\n


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\n Rally Saudi Arabia – Shakedown, in photos
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\"Elfyn<\/p>\n


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\n Rally Saudi Arabia – Shakedown, in photos
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\"Joshua<\/p>\n


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\n Rally Saudi Arabia – Shakedown, in photos
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\"Kalle<\/p>\n


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\n Rally Saudi Arabia – Shakedown, in photos
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\"Gregoire<\/p>\n


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\n Rally Saudi Arabia – Shakedown, in photos
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\"Elfyn<\/p>\n


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\n Rally Saudi Arabia – Shakedown, in photos
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\"Martins<\/p>\n


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\n Rally Saudi Arabia – Shakedown, in photos
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\"Sami<\/p>\n


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\n Rally Saudi Arabia – Shakedown, in photos
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\"Martins<\/p>\n


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\n Rally Saudi Arabia – Shakedown, in photos
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\"Thierry<\/p>\n


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\n Rally Saudi Arabia – Shakedown, in photos
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\"Kalle<\/p>\n


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\n Rally Saudi Arabia – Shakedown, in photos
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\"Sebastien<\/p>\n


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\n Rally Saudi Arabia – Shakedown, in photos
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\"Gregoire<\/p>\n


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\n Rally Saudi Arabia – Shakedown, in photos
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\"Sami<\/p>\n


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\n Rally Saudi Arabia – Shakedown, in photos
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\"Kalle<\/p>\n


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\n Rally Saudi Arabia – Shakedown, in photos
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\"Kalle<\/p>\n


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\n Rally Saudi Arabia – Shakedown, in photos
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\"Elfyn<\/p>\n


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\n Rally Saudi Arabia – Shakedown, in photos
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\"Elfyn<\/p>\n


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\n Rally Saudi Arabia – Shakedown, in photos
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\n <\/a>
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\"Thierry<\/p>\n


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\n Rally Saudi Arabia – Shakedown, in photos
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\"Sami<\/p>\n


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\n Rally Saudi Arabia – Shakedown, in photos
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\"Sebastien<\/p>\n


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\n Rally Saudi Arabia – Shakedown, in photos
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\"Elfyn<\/p>\n


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\n Rally Saudi Arabia – Shakedown, in photos
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\"Ott<\/p>\n


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\n Rally Saudi Arabia – Shakedown, in photos
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\"Ott<\/p>\n


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\n Rally Saudi Arabia – Shakedown, in photos
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\"Takamoto<\/p>\n


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\n Rally Saudi Arabia – Shakedown, in photos
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\"Gregoire<\/p>\n


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\n Rally Saudi Arabia – Shakedown, in photos
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\"Takamoto<\/p>\n


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\n Rally Saudi Arabia – Shakedown, in photos
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\"Elfyn<\/p>\n


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\n Rally Saudi Arabia – Shakedown, in photos
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\n <\/a>
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\"Sebastien<\/p>\n


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\n Rally Saudi Arabia – Shakedown, in photos
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\"Joshua<\/p>\n


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\n Rally Saudi Arabia – Shakedown, in photos
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\"Martins<\/p>\n


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\n Rally Saudi Arabia – Shakedown, in photos
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– The Motorsport.com Team<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ott Tanak has expanded on his decision to step away from the World Rally Championship, admitting it is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":156220,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[103450,111,139,69,103451,103449,103452,3703,213,87700],"class_list":{"0":"post-156219","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-hyundai-motorsport","9":"tag-new-zealand","10":"tag-newzealand","11":"tag-nz","12":"tag-ott-tanak","13":"tag-ott-tanak-opens-up-on-decision-to-leave-wrc","14":"tag-rally-saudi-arabia","15":"tag-saudi-arabia","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-wrc"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=156219"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156219\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/156220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=156219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=156219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}