ESTONIAN Ott Tänak gave Toyota its first Wales Rally GB triumph since 1996 by storming to victory at the gruelling four-day event, delivering his Yaris WRC a scintillating 10 second win over Belgian rival Thierry Neuville last weekend.

Tänak charged into the lead on the ninth of the event’s 22 stages, and would never be headed - whilst fastest time on the final Wolf Brenig Power Stage landed him an additional five points within the World Rally Championship title fight.His performance extended his lead over Sebastien Ogier to 28 points - the six-time champion did all he could to match the awe-inspiring pace of the victorious Toyota, but would have to settle for third place over the demanding Welsh tests.The rally started with a high-profile ceremony in Liverpool, before a spectacular opening night blast around the Oulton Park Stage to kick off proceedings, with Northern Ireland’s Kris Meeke taking the lead, blitzing his Toyota Yaris WRC through the very slippery conditions.Meeke would head the leaderboard for much of Friday in north Wales however that lead soon diminished as Tänak charged to the fore. From there, the Championship leader wouldn’t look back and he clinched his maiden Wales Rally GB win to lift the coveted Peall Trophy.“I am so happy with this win and I have always wanted victory at Wales Rally GB,” said Tänak. “It was a long weekend, with long days and short nights and a lot of pressure. I guess the gap was never bigger than 10 seconds and every stage I was on the limit. It was a hard one, but it feels good at the moment to gave won.”The fight for the final podium positions was more of a tussle as Ogier and Neuville scrapped for valuable points in the World Championship title race. Ogier would have the upper hand going into the gruelling ‘Super Saturday’ stages, but steadily Neuville reeled in the Frenchman to end the leg in second place.Sunday offered the shortest leg of the rally and little opportunity to claw back any significant time deficit. As such, Ogier had nothing left in the tank to challenge Neuville despite being ‘right on the limit’ of his Citroen C3 WRC, eventually having to settle for third place overall.Having held the initial lead, Meeke struggled with grip in his Yaris WRC and dropped to fourth by the time the rally headed to mid-Wales on Saturday. He managed his pace through the rest of event to finish just shy of a podium spot.He needed to keep an eye on his mirror as home-hero Elfyn Evans returned an awe-inspiring drive to recover from a puncture and suspension damage on Friday. Dropping to 12th, Evans stormed up the leaderboard in his Ford Fiesta WRC, winning seven stages in total to leapfrog Hyundai’s Andreas Mikkelsen into fifth place. Evans was left wondering what could have been, had he not lost time.Wales Rally GB lived up to its reputation as being one of the toughest on the WRC calendar, with inclement weather and treacherous stages challenging the best rally drivers in the world. Record numbers of fans were treated to a high-octane display of skill through 192 miles of flat-out action in the classic forests.Outside of the WRC premier league, there were equally intense battles for the support series’ and their respective titles. Kalle Rovanperä was crowned WRC2 Pro champion in his Skoda Fabia R5 after yet another impressive drive to ninth place overall. Wales Rally GB also staged the final round of the prized FIA Junior World Rally Championship – a title won previously by Elfyn Evans and Ogier. Spaniard Jan Solans eventually secured the coveted title after his rivals faltered.Four time Wales Rally GB winners Petter Solberg and Welshman Phil Mills made an emotional farewell appearance, taking 10th overall and top honours in the WRC2 in their Volkswagen Polo R5.Meanwhile Welsh honours were not just restricted to Evans, as Tom Cave and Dale Furniss took their Hyundai i20 R5 to 11th place overall, narrowly missing out on a top 10 place by just 15 seconds and were also the first all-Welsh crew home.