Ott Tänak is hopeful Rally Chile Bio Bío will better suit his Hyundai package after performance struggles left the WRC title contender "nowhere close" at ueno Rally del Paraguay.
Tänak described his maiden visit to Paraguay as a "tricky weekend inside the car" with the Estonian fighting for balance in his i20 N throughout the rally. Tänak was able to haul himself into the victory battle after climbing to second at the end of Friday, before tyre damage on Saturday morning dropped him down the order.
The 2019 world champion again managed to fight back to be in contention for a podium before a second tyre deflation ended any hopes of a podium on Sunday. He ultimately had to settle for fifth, finishing only 4.4sec behind second-placed Elfyn Evans. However, fifth was soon upgraded to fourth following Hyundai's decision to retire team-mate Adrien Fourmaux for tactical reasons ahead of next's week's round in Chile.
"We really struggled with our performance this weekend. We were not close to where we wanted to be and it was a tricky weekend inside the car with the punctures we experienced," said Tänak.
"We were really struggling to make the set-up work, even with the tweaks and changes we were making. It's hard to miss out on second in the way we did."
Tänak is, however, hopeful his fortunes can turn in Chile - which has proved to be his happy hunting ground. The Hyundai driver is the most successful on Chile's gravel stages since the South American nation made its debut on the calendar in 2019. Tänak won the inaugural edition driving for Toyota, before adding a second win while piloting an M-Sport-Ford Puma in 2023. Last year he finished third with Hyundai.
"Nothing has changed much in terms of the championship, it's still quite close, so hopefully Chile will suit us better and we can bounce back," added Tänak, who is now 18 points adrift of championship leader Evans.
It is a view shared by the Hyundai team that is determined to deliver stronger results in Chile - a rally it is yet to conquer.
"There is no denying that this has been a difficult rally for us [in Paraguay], with a lot of ups and downs," said Hyundai technical director Francois-Xavier Demaison.
"The results do not reflect the performance of our car this weekend, but our crews have clearly struggled with set-up and other mechanical issues, as well as punctures. Because of this, we decided to retire Adrien's car to have more freedom in our setup options for Rally Chile.
"While there are still positives to take away – we have taken solid points, and the drivers' championship is still open, everyone is determined to have a better weekend in Chile."
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