Hyundai driver Ott Tanak clinched his second World Rally Championship victory in a row as he held his nerve to edge out Toyota's Elfyn Evans at Ypres Rally Belgium on Sunday.
Tanak, who took the top spot on Saturday after team mate Thierry Neuville crashed out of his home event, won Sunday's final leg with a five-second margin over Evans.
The Estonian, winner in Finland earlier this month, trails Toyota's world championship leader Kalle Rovanpera by 72 points.
“To win here is a big surprise for us — more or less the same as it was in Finland,” said Tanak, who also won in Italy in June.
“We didn't expect it from anywhere basically, but somehow we were able to pull it together during the rally.
“It's great to see that some results are coming, but there is so much we can improve and we could still be a lot stronger, so there is still some work to do.”
Evans, who was 8.2 seconds behind Tanak going into Sunday's final four stages, flew to the fastest times on the opening two but it did not prove enough for any major gains over Tanak.
The Welshman had a similar experience in the afternoon and eventually had to settle for second despite outpacing Tanak by 2.2 seconds in the finale.
Rovanpera, 21, was out of contention after crashing on Friday but salvaged five points in the Power stage, remaining on track to become the youngest WRC champion in history.
Hyundai's Tanak edges Evans to win in Belgium
Image: Massimo Bettiol/Getty Images
Hyundai driver Ott Tanak clinched his second World Rally Championship victory in a row as he held his nerve to edge out Toyota's Elfyn Evans at Ypres Rally Belgium on Sunday.
Tanak, who took the top spot on Saturday after team mate Thierry Neuville crashed out of his home event, won Sunday's final leg with a five-second margin over Evans.
The Estonian, winner in Finland earlier this month, trails Toyota's world championship leader Kalle Rovanpera by 72 points.
“To win here is a big surprise for us — more or less the same as it was in Finland,” said Tanak, who also won in Italy in June.
“We didn't expect it from anywhere basically, but somehow we were able to pull it together during the rally.
“It's great to see that some results are coming, but there is so much we can improve and we could still be a lot stronger, so there is still some work to do.”
Evans, who was 8.2 seconds behind Tanak going into Sunday's final four stages, flew to the fastest times on the opening two but it did not prove enough for any major gains over Tanak.
The Welshman had a similar experience in the afternoon and eventually had to settle for second despite outpacing Tanak by 2.2 seconds in the finale.
Rovanpera, 21, was out of contention after crashing on Friday but salvaged five points in the Power stage, remaining on track to become the youngest WRC champion in history.
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