Estonian ends M-Sport Ford’s 385-day victory drought, transferring into the championship lead.
Ott Tänak secured a pivotal win at Rally Sweden on Sunday afternoon – ending M-Sport Ford’s victory drought on solely his second FIA World Rally Championship occasion since returning to the crew.
The Estonian scored his second Sweden success by 18.7sec forward of Hyundai i20 N driver Craig Breen, taking the lead of the sequence by three factors after spherical two of 13.
Tänak drove for M-Sport between 2011 and 2017 earlier than spending a number of seasons with rivals Toyota and Hyundai. He re-signed for the British squad at first of this season and at this time’s end result marks the crew’s first triumph since Rallye Monte-Carlo final 12 months – 385 days in the past.
“It clearly means lots to me, to return into a brand new automotive and ship to those guys [at M-Sport].” Tänak mentioned. “It’s an enormous effort for them to combat in opposition to such huge producers.
“I’m certain they’re getting fairly a little bit of stress from me, however so long as it’s delivering then we’re all successful. It’s nice to be a part of this crew.”
Half-time driver Breen led for half of the snow and ice fixture however Tänak, driving a Puma, was at all times sizzling on his heels. The Estonian surpassed his rival with a night-time cost on the penultimate day and by no means regarded again.
Crew techniques noticed Breen intentionally test in one-minute late to the pre-Wolf Energy Stage regroup, lumbering himself with a 10-second penalty to advertise colleague Thierry Neuville into the runner-up spot. The goal was to provide the Belgian – who drives full-time – extra precious drivers’ championship factors.
Nonetheless, these plans didn’t work out for Hyundai as Neuville dropped time with a scrappy run by way of the finale – transferring Breen again in entrance by simply 1.3sec.
Kalle Rovanperä, driving for Toyota Gazoo Racing, had been locked into a decent scrap with Neuville early within the day, however he fell out of the battle when his rival bolted on 4 recent Pirelli tyres for the ultimate two checks.
Rovanperä completed simply 5.1sec adrift of the rostrum – making certain the Japanese marque stays on high of the producers’ standings by 14 factors forward of Hyundai.
Elfyn Evans accomplished the highest 5 virtually a minute behind his team-mate on a weekend when he lacked confidence. Pierre-Louis introduced his Puma dwelling a lonely sixth, overcoming a technical scare within the ultimate stage by driving to the end in hybrid mode.
Esapekka Lappi was left to rue what might have been after a pricey tour on Saturday afternoon dropped him out of the rostrum battle. The Hyundai newcomer fought again to complete seventh total by the tip of the four-day fixture.
WRC2 winner Oliver Solberg was eighth forward of fellow help class drivers Ole Christian Veiby and Sami Pajari.
The championship returns to the Americas subsequent month as Guanajuato Rally México, primarily based in León, takes place from 16 – 19 March.
Total classification:
1. O Tänak / M Järveoja EST Ford Puma 2hr 25min 54.5sec
2. C Breen / J Fulton IRL Hyundai i20 N +18.7sec
3. T Neuville / M Wydaeghe BEL Hyundai i20 N +20.0sec
4. Okay Rovanperä / J Halttunen FIN Toyota GR Yaris +25.1sec
5. E Evans / S Martin GBR Toyota GR Yaris +1min 24.0sec
6. PL Loubet / N Gilsoul FRA Ford Puma +5min 59.0sec
Drivers’ championship factors (after spherical 2 of 13):
1. O Tänak 41pts
2. Okay Rovanperä 38pts
3. T Neuville 32pts
