Tänak's tips pay off for Kasari

The 24-year-old reigned supreme in his Ford Fiesta Rally3 to take the spoils on the opening round in the freshly-revamped ERC3 category. 

His Fiesta is prepared and run by OT Racing - the outfit owned by none other than 2019 FIA World Rally Champion Ott Tänak and his father Ivar. Perhaps they have something to do with its winning pedigree…

“Of course, they have provided me lots of advice,” smiled Kasari. “Our team boss is Ott’s father, so they give tips for me and my co-driver. The whole team is mega, it’s a super team.”

Kasari trailed category leader Dmitry Feofanov by 5.8sec before the Lameirinha Power Stage, but emerged from the treacherous test 31.5sec clear to take victory. 

That result was partially helped by a Feofanov spin, but even so, it was a drive worthy of recognition. Grip was little to none as best described by Brazilian driver Paulo Nobre; “It’s like soap!”. 

“It was like an ice rink,” Kasari agreed. “Our expectation was just to finish and gain some experience, but we saw that we were all so close and we needed to push on the last stage.

"It was extreme because most of the stages were maybe not so fast, but that one was so quick and it was extremely slippery and really tough. I think we did a nice job."

What’s next for the Estonian? While the next two rounds do not form part of his programme, he assures us we’ll see him very soon. 

"We are working hard, but sadly we are not competing in Azores and possibly not in the Canaries. We're doing as much as we can and we are hoping to do from Poland (Rd. 4: 11-22 June) until the end of the season."