Tänak made his public announcement last week and he will be joined by his compatriot and co-driver Martin Järveoja at the team with which the pair won the 2019 title – Toyota.

This followed a year's hiatus this year, after the Estonians finished the 2025 season for Hyundai, with Tänak fourth in the drivers' table.

More critical rally fans, however, are asking whether Tänak at 39 can still have the sharpness needed to compete for a further World Championship title or titles. Veteran and nine-time WRC title winner Sébastien Ogier was 41 when he won his most recent world title last year, they note; fellow Frenchman Sébastien Loeb was 38 when he won his ninth title, in 2012. Others say that experience matters. So what can be made of Tänak's chances this time around?

"Thirty-nine is no age at all in motorsport," rally expert Margus Murakas told "Spordipühapäev."

"If we are talking specifically about rallying, it is certainly a discipline where experience is required. Experienced drivers can objectively assess the situation and what is going to happen. Take the multiple French world champions, for instance, who have always had a clear plan. Ott and Martin also always have a clear plan on how to approach a race from the very first yard, be it tire choices or deciding where to attack, they stick to that plan and get to the finish line," Murakas said.

"Experienced drivers pick out those special stages where they feel comfortable and can see an opportunity to beat their rivals. They achieve a certain result or build up a lead, and then start defending it. I think it is impossible to drive the 300 competitive kilometers, which is currently the minimum for a WRC rally, flat out from the first meter to the finish," he added.

In Murakas' assessment, Tänak is even the leading favorite for this year's WRC title.

"Absolutely. I don't think he and Martin would have made this decision if they hadn't convinced themselves that they could compete for the very top spot," the expert noted.

Also appearing on "Spordipühapäev" was Margus Kiiver, who has followed rallying for years, worked at the EAL, the national autosport union, and the Estonian Olympic Committee, (EOK), and been involved in organizing Rally Estonia. He, too, believes Tänak and Järveoja have the potential to launch a serious title challenge.

"I don't believe the decision to return was made on the basis of 'let's go and see what happens.' Ott Tänak is known as an athlete who is very clearly goal-oriented. He has set himself a clear objective. Since 2019, when he won his first world title, the goal has naturally remained the same. Things simply haven't gone the way they should have," Kiiver said, adding Tänak may have taken a step back from top-level WRC racing, but has been behind the wheel a lot in other categories and in testing.

"I'm inclined to think that, compared with the drivers who have competed in the World Championship this year, Ott has covered more kilometers this year. All the testing he has done while getting to know the car. At the same time, he has maintained a good physical shape," he noted.

Kiiver also believes Tänak has one major advantage over his rivals.

"He has something that many other drivers don't have – a hunger. He hasn't competed for a year, apart from that one rally in the U.S. (in September — ed.). He is hungry to compete, and I think that is one of his plus points."

"Perhaps there is also some indication in the fact that he is not the only one who has tested these new Toyota models. Testing has different objectives, so you cannot make direct comparisons, but you can get some sense of where you stand compared with [reigning champion] Elfyn Evans, Oliver Solberg or Kalle Rovanperä."

"We don't know how much information circulates within the Toyota team, but there is some data on which to base such a decision. Maybe I'm talking complete nonsense here, but I think that is the only way you can get some sense of where you stand compared with the other drivers," Kiiver said.

Given Tänak's influence on Estonian sport, the show's participants found it worthwhile discussing how motorsport has managed during the year now drawing to a close without a man competing at the highest level of the WRC and what should now be done to make the most of the renewed interest for the benefit of the sport. The same questions are relevant to Estonia's premier domestic event, Rally Estonia.

Some relatively new names did emerge this year, Kiiver noted.

"Estonian motorsport did quite well. We added more world titles, with Robert Virves and Jakko Viilo in the WRC2 class. On the other hand, we had Paul Aron, who was very much in the picture in Formula 1, taking part in free practice sessions. Admittedly, he did not get to race," he said.

"Looking at it in that light, it wasn't a bad year overall. Rally Estonia also managed without Ott, although it took a lot of work to get people out to the stages. Quite a lot of spectators actually came to watch the young Estonians compete. Both the media and fans focused a little more this year on our young drivers, who had inevitably been in the shadow of Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja before," Kiiver added.

Outside of their home country, how eagerly was Tänak and Järveoja's return anticipated in the wider rally world?

Kiiver said very much, adding: "I believe it was very eagerly anticipated. The WRC is going through a period of transition. It has a new promoter, whose biggest efforts will start to bear fruit next season, and a colorful character like Tänak certainly adds a lot to the championship."

"I would venture to state that Ott Tänak is an even bigger name around the world than we can conceive of. He is highly respected among rally fans worldwide," the expert went on, noting that while Tänak may be a man of few words, those comments he does make are always on point.

"The WRC is getting back a very serious and highly goal-oriented professional," Kiiver concluded.

Background:

Tänak is joining a veritable stable of drivers at Toyota – not only will new world champion Elfyn Evans (Wales) be his teammate, but so too will be Takamoto Katsuta, from Japan, Toyota's home country, Norwegian-Swedish driver Oliver Solberg and Finn Sami Pajari. The team will continue to run the Yaris, but will also be entering the all-new GR Celica Rally1 next season.

The first race as per tradition is the Monte Carlo rally in January 2027.

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