page_title: Ott Tänak
section_title: 2012
hierarchical_section_title: Ott Tänak / Career / 2012
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Ott Tänak sur la route de liaison entre le parc d'assistance de Colmar et l'ES5 Hohlandsbourg-Firstplan 2 durant le Rallye de France-Alsace 2012.
context_page_description: Ott Tänak is an Estonian rally driver. He is currently teamed with Martin Järveoja and is competing for Hyundai in the World Rally Championship.
  In the 2017 and 2018 seasons, Tänak and Järveoja finished third in the overall driver's standings, behind rivals Thierry Neuville and Sebastien Ogier. Tänak achieved his maiden drivers' world title in the 2019 World Rally Championship, making him the first Estonian to win the driver's championship, the first non-Frenchman to win the title since Petter Solberg in 2003 and the first for Toyota since Didier Auriol in 1994.
context_section_description: In 2012, Tänak was the number one driver for M-Sport Ford World Rally Team, and with a Ford Fiesta RS WRC he drove the full 2012 season. At the Rally Sweden Tänak took his first stage win on SS14. He later had a season with ups and downs. After retiring in Sweden with engine failure, he finished fifth in Mexico. But in Portugal, he slid off the road, forcing him to return under Rally2 (formerly SupeRally) rules. The next round, Rally Argentina started well for Tänak, but continued badly: he collected punctures, and slid back to 37th, but fought his way back to 10th. In Greece, he was doing well until he had to stop due to suspension damage and had to use Rally2 again. He crashed out in New Zealand, but on Rally Finland, the next round, he bounced back with a 6th-place finish. He followed this up by two crashes in Germany and Great Britain. After these poor performances, he went on to finish sixth in France. He scored his first podium in Italy, the penultimate round of the season, by finishing 3rd behind winner Mikko Hirvonen and Evgeny Novikov. The final round of the season, the Catalunya Rally, was bittersweet to him: on the first day, he was even leading the rally, and was lying fifth when he crashed out on the last stage. He finished 8th in the final standings, winning 8 stages during the season.
caption: Tänak at the 2012 Rallye de France
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