Sweden WRC: Evans seals first win with Toyota
Elfyn Evans has sealed his first victory as a Toyota WRC driver on Rally Sweden, and the second of his top-line career.
Welshman Evans went into Sunday's final stage of the shortened rally, the 21.19km Likenas test, with 17 seconds in hand over Hyundai's Ott Tanak.
Giving away only 4.5s of his advantage, Evans duly navigated the test to score his first WRC victory since he triumphed on Rally GB in 2017.
Tanak secured second, marking his first podium as a Hyundai driver, while Kalle Rovanpera topped the Power Stage to take third ahead of Toyota teammate Sebastien Ogier.
Teenage prodigy Rovanpera beat nearest rival, Monte Carlo winner Thierry Neuville, by 3.7s to take the maximum bonus points, also outpacing Ogier by 3.4s overall.
With Evans finishing outside the top five on the Power Stage, he and Neuville - who finished sixth overall - are now level on points at the head of the drivers' standings on 42 points each.
Ogier, third-quickest on the Power Stage, is on 37 points, ahead of Rovanpera on 30.
Esapekka Lappi took fifth place in the best of the M-Sport Fords by just 1.4s ahead of Neuville, while Craig Breen was seventh in a third Hyundai ahead of Teemu Suninen (Ford).
Japanese Toyota protege Takamoto Katsuta scored two points in his fourth-string Yaris WRC for ninth, ahead of WRC3 winner Jari Huttunen in 10th overall.
Mads Ostberg (Citroen) claimed WRC2 honours in 12th, besting Hyundai rival Ole Christian Veiby by 23 seconds.
Final results (top 10):
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Car | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 33 |  Elfyn Evans | Toyota | 1:11:43.1 |
| 2 | 8 |  Ott Tanak | Hyundai | +12.7 |
| 3 | 69 |  Kalle Rovanpera | Toyota | +20.2 |
| 4 | 17 |  Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | +23.6 |
| 5 | 4 | Esapekka Lappi | Ford | +32.4 |
| 6 | 11 |  Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +33.8 |
| 7 | 16 |  Craig Breen | Hyundai | +1:00.9 |
| 8 | 3 | Teemu Suninen | Ford | +1:24.5 |
| 9 | 18 |  Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +1:59.6 |
| 10 | 58 | Jari Huttunen | Hyundai | +4:03.0 |
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About this article
| Series | WRC |
| Event | Rally Sweden |
| Drivers | Elfyn Evans |
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