M-Sport in a good place for 2023 campaign, says Millener

That is the view of Team Principal Richard Millener, who feels belief levels within the squad have been raised since the 2019 World Rally champions made the switch to Dovenby Hall from Hyundai Motorsport at the beginning of December.

Tanak will be supported this year by Pierre-Louis Loubet, the rising French star piloting the second points-scoring Puma Rally1 following a European-focused programme last season that yielded two top-five finishes in Sardinia and Greece.

“We are thrilled to be starting this new season with Ott leading the ranks,” said Millener, who also has a big say in M-Sport’s World Rally Championship 2 activities.

“It has been a productive few months, culminating in the pre-event test, and we are ready to take on what is to come. I think we are already seeing the benefits of working with Ott, and I hope Pierre comes to gain from this as well.

“Everyone back at Dovenby has been hard at work on both the Rally1 and Rally2 programmes to get us ready for this new season. I want to thank everyone for their commitment so far and together we should be able to deliver some very strong results this year,” added Millener.

An individual known to demand the highest standards, Tanak says he is in a good frame of mind for Rallye Monte-Carlo - the only mixed surface event on the calendar following his pre-event test in the Gap region.

There is huge expectation on the Estonian to deliver strong results from the word go following a disappointing 2022 campaign which meant M-Sport were fringe players in the manufacturers’ title race for the most part.

However, Tanak has asked fans not to demand too much of him too soon. “Rallye Monte-Carlo is always a difficult one to expect something, but for sure it’s the trickiest rally of the season,” he said.

“It won’t be any easier this time as well to get into the rhythm right away, so we expect nothing less than another tricky weekend in the mountains. We tried to get the best out of our first test days and we were lucky to experience the car in different conditions.

“It’s never easy to start the season from the blank page and building up the setup, but the boys and girls from M-Sport are working hard and hopefully we are well prepared for the upcoming challenge. I’m really looking forward to our first race together.”