Tänak admitted that at the time when his decision to terminate his contract with Hyundai became public after Rally de Catalunya, he had no back-up plan ready to go. However, soon after that, contact was made with head of M-Sport Malcolm Wilson. "There was still Rally Japan to come. We started to discover what the options were, what their capabilities were and what they were planning to do at what level in the future," said Tänak.

The Estonian rally ace acknowledged, that Hyundai had developed quite a lot during his time there, and that he is still getting used to the M-Sport car, which he will be racing in next season.

"There's definitely a lot to discover, but the people here are really enthusiastic and definitely want to prove that, while it's a small team, at the end of the day, everyone has a big passion for the sport," he said.

Tänak believes that, just like Toyota, M-Sport can achieve big things. "We've certainly put ourselves in a difficult position to some extent. We're going into the season without having driven a meter in this car in various different conditions. But, at the same time I think the system (we have) will definitely help," he said.

Tänak's contract with M-Sport is initially for one year. During that time, the Estonian has a clear goal: to win the world title for the second time in his career.  

"At Toyota in one year was also actually possible. We did have some weaknesses there ,which ultimately took us out of the game, but anything is possible, you just have to be yourself. To a certain extent, maybe it's motivating to be in a slightly weaker position than the others. At the same time, I can see that with some work it will be possible to turn that around," said Tänak.

"All the drivers and teams are at a very high level and everybody knows what they are doing, but I think we have a chance," he said.

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