Second for Tänäk was a boost after a massive opening round crash which left the Estonian uncertain of his fitness.
“The recovery took quite a bit of time and first week I was quite a bit in the pain so I was really not confident I would be fit for Sweden. The body was not really happy and it took a bit of time,” he said.
Tänak, driving a Hyundai i20, finished 7.5sec clear of Rovanperä, who stormed to fastest time to relegate Yaris colleague Ogier. After trailing the Frenchman by 0.5sec overnight, he finished 3.4sec ahead.
Esapekka Lappi was a further 8.8sec back in fifth in the leading Ford Fiesta, the Finn fending off first round winner Thierry Neuville’s i20. Neuville is tied on points at the head of the championship with Evans but the Welshman claims top spot on countback.
Craig Breen steered another i20 to seventh ahead of the second Fiesta of Teemu Suninen. Takamoto Katsuta and WRC 3 winner Jari Huttunen completed the leaderboard.
The season’s first gravel rally is next up. Rally Guanajuato Mexico is based in León on 12 - 15 March as the series journeys outside Europe for the first time this season.
Final Overall Classification – Rally Sweden
| 1 | E. Evans | S. Martin | Toyota Yaris WRC | 1:11:43.1 |
| 2 | O. Tänak | M. Järveoja | Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC | +12.7 |
| 3 | K. Rovanperä | J. Halttunen | Toyota Yaris WRC | +20.2 |
| 4 | S. Ogier | J. Ingrassia | Toyota Yaris WRC | +23.6 |
| 5 | E. Lappi | J. Ferm | Ford Fiesta WRC | +32.4 |
| 6 | T. Neuville | N. Gilsoul | Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC | +33.8 |
| 7 | C. Breen | P. Nagle | Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC | +1:00.9 |
| 8 | T. Suninen | J. Lehtinen | Ford Fiesta WRC | +1:24.5 |
| 9 | T. Katsuta | D. Barritt | Toyota Yaris WRC | +1:59.6 |
| 10 | J. Huttunen | M. Lukka | Hyundai i20 R5 | +4:03.0 |
| 1 | Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team | 73 |
| 2 | Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team | 63 |
| 3 | M-Sport Ford World Rally Team | 40 |
| 1 | E. Evans | 42 |
| 2 | T. Neuville | 42 |
| 3 | S. Ogier | 37 |
| 4 | K. Rovanperä | 30 |
| 5 | E. Lappi | 24 |
| 6 | O. Tänak | 20 |
| 7 | T. Suninen | 11 |
| 8 | S.Loeb | 8 |
| 9 | T. Katsuta | 8 |
| 10 | C. Breen | 6 |
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