ELFYN Evans led from start to finish to secure a dominant Rally Sweden victory on Sunday afternoon, and lead the FIA World Rally Championship for the first time in his impressive rallying career.

The 31 year-old Gwynedd star became the first British driver to win the WRC’s only winter round after easing his Toyota Yaris through treacherous conditions in the closing Wolf Power Stage to finish 12.7sec clear of world champion Ott Tänak.

Teenage sensation Kalle Rovanperä shocked six-time champion and team-mate Sébastien Ogier by snatching third - and at 19, became the youngest driver ever to claim a WRC podium finish.

Unseasonably mild weather meant the schedule for the four-day rally, round two of the season, was shortened due to a lack of snow and ice. The conditions failed to deter Evans, from Dinas Mawddwy, as he took the lead in the opening speed test and was never headed.

Heavy rain on icy roads brought an extra hazard for Sunday’s single test. With a 17.2sec overnight advantage, Evans was able to measure his pace and seal his second career victory, and a first for co-driver Scott Martin after 133 WRC starts.

“It was a tricky stage to finish and with the grip changing so much I didn’t take any chances. I felt it was a bit too much on the edge to take big chances,” said Evans, who celebrated victory on only his second rally with Toyota Gazoo Racing, after switching from M-Sport Ford.

“It’s been a big effort trying to settle into a new team and these guys have made the job very, very easy and given us everything we possibly could have wanted to achieve this victory,” he added.

Second place for defending World Rally champion Tänäk was a boost after a massive opening round crash on Rally Monte Carlo, 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, in 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 place in the leading Ford Fiesta, the Finn fending off first round winner Thierry Neuville’s i20 in sixth spot. 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 in eighth, and Takamoto Katsuta’s Yaris in ninth. WRC 3 winner Jari Huttunen completed the leaderboard.

The 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.

Leaderboard: 1 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota Yaris WRC) 1h11m43.1s; 2 Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +12.7s; 3 Kalle Rovanperä/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota Yaris WRC) +20.2s; 4 Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (Toyota Yaris WRC) +23.6s; 5 Esapekka Lappi/Janne Ferm (Ford Fiesta WRC) +32.4s; 6 Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +33.8s; 7 Craig Breen/Paul Nagle (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +1m00.9s; 8 Teemu Suninen/Jarmo Lehtinen (Ford Fiesta WRC) +1m24.5s; 9 Takamoto Katsuta/Daniel Barritt (Toyota Yaris WRC) +1m59.6s; 10 Jari Huttunen/Mikko Lukka (Hyundai i20 R5) +4m03.0s.