Ott Tänak secured a pivotal win at Rally Sweden on Sunday afternoon - ending M-Sport Ford's victory drought on only his second FIA World Rally Championship event since returning to the team.

The Estonian scored his second Sweden success by 18.7sec ahead of Hyundai i20 N driver Craig Breen, taking the lead of the series by three points after round two of 13.

Tänak drove for M-Sport between 2011 and 2017 before spending several seasons with rivals Toyota and Hyundai. He re-signed for the British squad at the beginning of this season and today's result marks the team's first triumph since Rallye Monte-Carlo last year - 385 days ago.

"It obviously means a lot to me, to come into a new car and deliver to these guys [at M-Sport]." Tänak said. "It's a big effort for them to fight against such big manufacturers.

"I am sure they are getting quite a bit of stress from me, but as long as it's delivering then we are all winning. It's great to be part of this team."

Part-time driver Breen led for half of the snow and ice fixture but Tänak, driving a Puma, was always hot on his heels. The Estonian surpassed his rival with a night-time charge on the penultimate day and never looked back.

Team tactics saw Breen deliberately check in one-minute late to the pre-Wolf Power Stage regroup, lumbering himself with a 10-second penalty to promote colleague Thierry Neuville into the runner-up spot. The aim was to give the Belgian - who drives full-time - more valuable drivers' championship points.

However, those plans didn't work out for Hyundai as Neuville dropped time with a scrappy run through the finale - moving Breen back in front by just 1.3sec.

Kalle Rovanperä, driving for Toyota Gazoo Racing, had been locked into a tight scrap with Neuville early in the day, but he fell out of the battle when his rival bolted on four fresh Pirelli tyres for the final two tests.

Rovanperä finished just 5.1sec adrift of the podium - ensuring the Japanese marque remains on top of the manufacturers' standings by 14 points ahead of Hyundai.

Elfyn Evans completed the top five almost a minute behind his team-mate on a weekend when he lacked confidence. Pierre-Louis brought his Puma home a lonely sixth, overcoming a technical scare in the final stage by driving to the finish in hybrid mode.

Esapekka Lappi was left to rue what could have been after a costly excursion on Saturday afternoon dropped him out of the podium battle. The Hyundai newcomer fought back to finish seventh overall by the end of the four-day fixture.

WRC2 winner Oliver Solberg was eighth ahead of fellow support category drivers Ole Christian Veiby and Sami Pajari.

PROVISIONAL FINAL CLASSIFICATION, RALLY SWEDEN

1 Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (Ford Puma Rally1 HYBRID) 2h25m54.5s

2 Craig Breen/James Fulton (Hyundai i20 N Rally1 HYBRID) +18.7s

3 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1 HYBRID) +20.0s

4 Kalle Rovanperä/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID) +25.1s

5 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID) +1m24.0s

6 Pierre-Louis Loubet/Nicolas Gilsoul (Ford Puma Rally1 HYBRID) +5m59.0s

7 Esapekka Lappi/Janne Ferm (Hyundai i20 N Rally1 HYBRID) +7m42.4s

8 Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +7m48.1s

9 Ole Christian Veiby/Torstein Eriksen (Volkswagen Polo GTI R5) +8m30.4s

10 Sami Pajari/Enni Mälkönen (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +9m03.2s ...

(Results as of 13:30 on Sunday, for the latest results please visit www.wrc.com)

What's next?

The WRC returns to Rally México for the first time since 2020 on March 16-19. The first gravel event of the season features temperatures in the region of 30°C, and high altitude is also a major factor with a route that peaks at 2,747 metres above sea level.