Englishman Millener made his comments after Tänak’s stunning clinical victory in the Ford Puma in Sweden, where he took on and beat two factory giants Hyundai and Toyota.
The win, which the Estonian managed through consistency – he won just one stage on Friday but was quick enough to retain the overall lead he achieved on Saturday – was the first for M-Sport Ford in over a year; The team
Tänak is again driving for the M-Sport team this year and has already won his second rally, giving the team first place in the World Rally Championship after a year’s break.
Tänak and Ogier were team-mates during the Estonian’s first stint with the team, which was also the season in which Ogier won his second drivers’ title with M-Sport Ford.
Ogier was World Champion in both seasons he drove for M-Sport; Tänak later switched to Toyota, the team he and co-driver Martin Järveoja won their first title with in 2019.
After Citroen’s exit from the top tier of WRC racing, only three teams remained at the end of the same season, while Tänak moved to the third of them, Hyundai, and the hitherto always bridesmaid joined Belgian Thierry Neuville in the i20.
While he won five races in three years, including the 2020 season curtailed by the coronavirus, it could be said that Tänak has struggled at Hyundai, both on the track and with adapting to the new hybrid regulations in early 2021 and with media rumors of personality conflicts involving him other team members
Millener told rally portal DirtFish that he definitely sees similarities between the 2023 Ott and Sebastien Ogier.
Ott did a fantastic job,” said Millener DirtFish after the Swedes’ victory.
“He reminds me a bit of when we had Ogier on the team. He worked very, very hard to solve the problems he had, he solved them, and then he found more,” Millener continued.
“You will never run out of things to change. But the key is finding a balance in between and doing whatever it takes to give the guys the tools they need.”
The WRC season in Mexico will continue in the middle of next month.
After the win in Sweden, Tänak tops the WRC standings, three points ahead of reigning champion Toyota man Kalle Rovanperä (Finland).
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