Umeå, Sweden - Estonia's 2019 titleholder Ott Tanak deprived Ireland's Craig Breen of a maiden world rally championship win in Sweden on Sunday.
This was Tanak's first win for M-Sport Ford since his return to the team he drove for between 2011 and 2017.
"It obviously means a lot to me, to come into a new car and deliver to these guys (M-Sport)," Tanak told wrc.com. "It's a big effort for them to fight against such big manufacturers.
"I am sure they are getting quite a bit of stress from me, but as long as it's delivering then we are all winning. It's great to be part of this team."
Part-time Hyundai driver Breen was leading Rally Sweden until darkness fell on Saturday night, when Tanak grabbed the lead to take a near-nine-second cushion into the closing day's three stages.
Under orders from his South Korean team, Breen deliberately checked in one-minute late for the Power Stage, incurring a 10-second time penalty in an attempt to hand runner-up spot to his full-time teammate Thierry Neuville who is chasing the championship.
The plan backfired, with Neuville losing time when he hit a wall of snow towards the finish line.
Tanak in the end won the second rally of the season by 18.7sec from Breen, with Neuville third at 20.0s.
Defending champion Kalle Rovanpera was fourth ahead of his Toyota colleague Elfyn Evans.
The WRC circuit moves to Mexico next month when eight-time champion Sebastien Ogier, who won the opener in Monte Carlo, will be back after skipping the Swedish snow.
For Tanak, it represented an 18th win at this level. He takes over the lead in the nascent championship on 41 points from Rovanpera on 38 and Neuville six points adrift in third.
AFP