Jari-Matti Latvala gifted first victory to Toyota in World Rally Championship (WRC) in Japanese outfit's return to the sport. The Finnish driver won 2017 Rally Sweden, second round of the season on Sunday. Toyota Gazoo Racing registered a WRC win since 1999 at Rally Sweden, just two events into its comeback this season after absence for 17 years.
Also read: Sebastien Ogier wins season opener WRC Rallye Monte-Carlo
The 31-year-old driver won final three stages on Sunday in his Toyota Yaris WRC. Latvala also won the final live TV Power Stage to claim five bonus points. After finishing second in the season-opening Rallye Monte-Carlo, Latvala climbed to the top of the world championship rankings.
Latvala attained lead after Hyundai's Thierry Neuville crashed out on Saturday's last stage, for the second WRC event in a row. At the time of crash Neuville had more than 40 seconds clear with only three stages to run.
With Neuville out the battle was between Latvala and M-Sport's Ott Tanak. Latvala outpaced Tanak through the final day on snow and ice-covered roads to extend an overnight advantage into a 29.2sec winning margin. Tanak, driving a Ford Fiesta, finished 30.3sec ahead of team-mate and season opener Rallye Monte-Carlo winner Sebastien Ogier, whose victory hopes ended when he spun in Sunday's opening speed test.
Third round of WRC 2017, Rally Guanajuato Mexico has been scheduled from March 9 to 12.
| WRC 2017- Rally Sweden results | |||
| Position | Driver/ co-driver | Car | Time gap |
| 1 | Jari-Matti Latvala, M.Anttila | Toyota | 2h36m03.6s |
| 2 | Ott Tanak, M.Jarveoja | Ford | 29.2s |
| 3 | Sebastien Ogier, J.Ingrassia | Ford | 59.5s |
| 4 | Dani Sordo, M.Marti | Hyundai | 2m11.5s |
| 5 | Craig Breen, S.Martin | Citroen | 2m51.2s |
| 6 | Elfyn Evans, D.Barritt | Ford | 5m26.6s |
| 7 | Hayden Paddon, J.Kennard | Hyundai | 5m31.2s |
| 8 | Stephane Lefebvre, G.Moreau | Citroen | 7m14.7s |
| 9 | Pontus Tidemand, J.Andersson | Skoda | 9m11.1s |
| 10 | Teemu Suninen, M.Markkula | Ford | 10m02.9s |
