Estonian pilot Ott Tanak and his co-driver Raigo Molder had a terrifying moment during the Rally of Mexico when their M-Sport Ford Fiesta RS WRC crashed down a steep hill plunging into a lake Friday morning.
The WRC racer came to rest on the surface of the water the right way up, allowing the two men to quickly escape, seconds before the Fiesta disappeared beneath the surface.
“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,” 27-year-old Tänak told WRC.com. “I opened the seat belts and immediately after opening the door the car filled with water. Then it went down in a short time.”
“It was a bit scary when I got out the car. 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,” he added
Tanak said that he lost control of the car after the Fiesta RS hit a compression in the gravel road.
“It was a downhill braking in the compression and something broke in the front right. The wheel was turning out and it dragged us to the edge of the road. When I saw the water and we rolled I told Raigo we had to move fast but that was all. I shouted that to him just before we went into the water.”