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Tanak denies Breen in Rally Sweden / Photo: © AFP
Tanak denies Breen in Rally Sweden
Estonia's 2019 titleholder Ott Tanak deprived Ireland's Craig Breen of a maiden world rally championship win in Sweden on Sunday.
Hyundai driver Breen was leading Rally Sweden until darkness fell on Saturday night, when Tanak, behind the wheel of a M-Sport Ford, 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, only competing part-time this season, took a 10-second time penalty to boost his full-time teammate Thierry Neuville's chances.
But 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 leg 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 but his first since joining Ford. He takes over the lead in the nascent championship on 41 points from Rovanpera on 38 and Neuville six points adrift in third.
J.Scott--SFF
