Reigning world champion Tänak was hit by suspension problems at the start of the rally, causing him to drop to eighth place by the end of day one, almost two minutes behind Hyundai stablemate Dani Sordo.

Tänak commented after the rally: "We knew after suspension problems on Friday that it will be difficult to intervene at the high game but we continued trying and tried to support the team as much as we could. Leaving out Friday's problems, the machine worked well, but we know we are capable of much more. At least we were able to get all five points from the point stage, capping off the rally in a positive way."

Tänak was able to take the point stage, gaining a total of 13 points from Rally Sardegna, bringing his season total to 83 points, good enough for fourth in the season rankings.

The Saaremaa born reigning world champion said after the point stage: "It has been a disappointing weekend but it is what it is. We could not have changed anything."

Tänak's Hyundai teammate Dani Sordo finished the rally with a lead of 5.1 ahead of Thierry Neuville, the latter passing six-time world champ Sebastien Ogier on the final stage, beating the Frenchman by just a second.

With two rounds of the WRC season left, Welsh driver Elfyn Evans is in the season rankings lead with 111 points, followed by Sebastien Ogier with 97 points and Thierry Neuville with 87 points. Reigning world champion Ott Tänak is fourth with 83 points.

Hyundai holds a seven-point lead in the manufacturers' rankings with 208 points, followed by Toyota with 201 and Ford M-Sport with 117 points.

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