Tanak in top gear to give Toyota Wales Rally victory

ESTONIAN Ott Tanak gave Toyota its first Wales Rally GB win since 1996 by storming to victory at the gruelling four-day even, delivering his Yaris WRC a scintillating 10-second win over Belgian rival Thierry Neuville.

Tanak charged into the lead on the ninth of the event’s 22 stages and would never be headed. His performance extended his lead over Sebastien Ogier to 28 points – the six-time champion did all he could to match the pace of the victorious Toyota, but would have to settle for third place over the demanding Welsh tests.

For the first time in its history, the rally started from Liverpool in a high-profile ceremony outside the Royal Liver Building on the city’s historic waterfront.

Fans were then treated to a spectacular opening night blast around the Dayinsure Oulton Park Stage to kick off proceedings with Northern Ireland’s Kris Meeke taking the lead, blitzing his Toyota Yaris WRC through the slippery conditions.

Meeke would head the leader board for much of day one in north Wales, however that lead soon diminished as Tanak charged to the fore. From there, the championship leader wouldn’t look back and clinched his maiden Wales Rally GB win and lift the coveted Peall Trophy.

“Of course, I am so happy with this win and I have always wanted victory at Wales Rally GB,” he enthused.

“It was a long weekend with long days and short nights and a lot of pressure. I guess the gap was never bigger than 10 seconds and every stage I was on the limit. It was a hard one, but it feels good at the moment.”

Having held the initial lead, Meeke struggled with grip in his Yaris WRC and dropped to fourth.

However, he would need to keep an eye on his mirror as home-hero Elfyn Evans returned an awe-inspiring drive to recover from suspension damage.

Dropping to 12th, Evans stormed up the leader board in his Ford Fiesta WRC, winning seven stages in total to leapfrog Hyundai’s Andreas Mikkelsen into fifth place.

The Welshman was left wondering what could have been, had he not lost time earlier on.

Four-time Wales Rally GB winners Petter Solberg and Welshman Phil Mills made an emotional farewell appearance, taking tenth place overall and top honours in the WRC2 category in their Volkswagen Polo R5.

Welsh honours were not just restricted to Evans, as Tom Cave and Dale Furniss took their Hyundai i20 R5 to 11th place, narrowly missing out on a top 10 place by just 15 seconds and were also the first all-Welsh crew home.