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Toyota-bound M-Sport driver Ott Tanak has admitted focusing too much on getting his first World Rally Championship event win cost him a 2017 title shot.
Tanak has promised to adopt a fresh approach when he joins Toyota in 2018.
He feels he spent too long chasing a maiden WRC win – which he achieved in Sardinia in June – rather than looking at the potential for a title tilt this year.
“Maybe our approach was not right for fighting for the championship,” said Tanak, who ended the season third in the points behind Sebastien Ogier and Thierry Neuville.
“When we started the season we were missing the first win and I was more focused on winning rallies rather than collecting the points.
“At the end of season we were close to putting pressure to Seb, but overall we were not ready to fight for the drivers’ championship.
“In Monte [Carlo next season] we will have a different mindset and different targets; we will need to approach it in a different way.”
Asked about his specific targets, Tanak replied: “There is no secret we want to fight for the drivers’ championship, this is our personal target.
“We have been close this year, so I see no reason why we don’t do it in the future.
“Yes we’re changing the team, but we can see Toyota is capable of doing anything.”
Tanak, pictured above during his WRC top-class debut on Rally GB in 2011, also paid tribute to M-Sport, which has steered his WRC career and been his home for most of the past five seasons.
“This has been a good school for me,” he said.
“I learned a lot of lessons and it’s going to be different with a new team, everything is new.
“It’s good to be in a winning team and great to see a private team can win the manufacturers’ championship.
“It’s been a great season, all the M-Sport guys have all pushed so hard.
“It’s a nice family and I will miss them.”
Tanak was twice demoted or dropped by M-Sport during the early part of his WRC career before earning a third chance for this season with impressive performances in the second-string DMACK team during 2016.
He regularly outpaced reigning champion Ogier during their 2017 campaign together and followed up his Sardinia win with a second triumph in Germany – briefly becoming a long-shot title hope in the process.
The 2018 World Rally Championship will be launched at Autosport International, held on January 11-14. For ticket information, click here.