The Hyundai driver claimed nine of the 21 stages across four gruelling days, navigating through Sardinia’s famous rough gravel stages in scorching temperatures, to take the win by 1m03.2s from M-Sport’s Craig Breen.
Following Elfyn Evans’s early exit from the lead due to a water leak on Friday, Tanak became embroiled in a fight with Toyota’s Esapekka Lappi. Tanak briefly claimed the lead after Stage 4, before dropping 0.7s adrift of the Finn heading into Saturday.
