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Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja claimed victory in Rally Belgium, sealing back-to-back FIA World Rally Championship round wins.
It marks the third triumph for the Hyundai Motorsport pairing this year, who claimed the win by five seconds, ahead of the Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT entries of Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin, and Esapekka Lappi/Janne Ferm.
Tänak said his team were pleased to back up their performance from Rally Finland.
“To win here is a big surprise for us, more or less the same as it was in Finland,” Tänak said.
“We didn’t expect it from anywhere basically, but somehow we were able to pull it together during the rally.
“It’s great to see that some results are coming, but there is so much we can improve and we could still be a lot stronger, so there is still some work to do.”
The Hyundai Motorsport crew were competitive from the start of the 20-stage rally with six stage wins on the opening day, including two one-twos and a joint-fastest time for Tänak/Järveoja and Neuville/Wydaeghe.
Disaster struck for championship leaders Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen (#69 Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT) when they rolled on Friday morning’s second stage.
A rebuild of the car allowed the Finnish pairing to return under restart rules the following day.
Evans/Martin took over the lead when Rovanperä/Halttunen dropped out, but a slow puncture that compromised their tyre strategy and a 10-second penalty for arriving late to one stage meant they ended Friday third overall and 13.7s from the lead.
Neuville/Wydaeghe ended Friday with a lead of 2.5s over Tänak/Järveoja.
The Belgians relinquished the lead to their team-mates after they understeered off the road and ended up in a ditch on Special Stage 15, with the pairing going on to finish the rally in 20th.
Tänak/Järveoja picked up the charge from there, fending off an onslaught from Evans/Martin late in the event, who closed the gap with two stage wins on the final morning.
Despite the setback, Rovanperä/Halttunen (203 points) leave Belgium with a championship lead of 72 points, ahead of Tänak/Järveoja (131 points), and Evans/Martin (116 points).
Four rounds remain in the 2022 World Rally Championship, with Acropolis Rally Greece, next up from September 8-11.
