Ott Tanak feared for his life as his Ford Fiesta RS WRC plunged into a lake, Friday on day two of Rally Mexico.
The Estonian and his co-driver Raigo Molder were driving down on a road beside a resevoir when something mechanical failed. Pointing in the wrong direction, the right front wheel dragged the car to the edge of the road, and into the lake. The Fiesta sunk in only 25 seconds. "It was a bit scary when I got out the car," Tanak remembers. "The intercom wire was still fixed and it was difficult to unplug, so it was dragging me under the water. That was a **** feeling but luckily I had enough force to unplug it. A few seconds later the car was gone." The 27-year-old added: "If you are in a lake, close to the limit of your life and fighting for it, when you finally win that fight it's an amazing feeling."
And on Saturday, Autosport revealed that M-Sport managed to retrieve the Fiesta from the lake where it spent nine hours. Amazingly, the team then fixed everything in time for the first stages of the day. But unfortunately, Tanak and Molder could not restart, possibly because of moisture left in the engine coil. "We'll sit the car in the sun and work on it this afternoon," said M-Sport boss Malcolm Wilson, who still wants to see his car back in action Sunday. "It's very difficult to get all the moisture out of the coil area. We'll have more time to look at it now, we can change the wiring loom and a few more parts. "We'll get it sorted." Recent Articles
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