Tanak led the all tarmac rally from start to finish and has closed to within 13 points of reigning World Champion Sebastien Ogier in the World Rally Driver's Championship. The Toyota team have closed to within 13 points of Hyundai in the Manufacturer's series.

"This was definitely the hardest victory I have ever had," said Tanak, who won the previous round in Finland.

"For the majority of the weekend it was a really close fight and I had to push so hard. On Friday in the vineyards I felt very comfortable with the car. On Saturday morning I did not feel so confident, but the team really improved the car in service."

The Estonian says he is not considering his chances of overhauling series leader Thierry Neuville who finished second in Germany.

"We are moving in the right direction in the championship but I am still taking it event-by-event."

Tanak's team-mate Esapekka Lappi finished third to score valuable points for Toyota. There are four events left this year.

Results -

Rally Germany, World Rally Championship 1 Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (Toyota Yaris WRC) 3h03m36.9s 2 Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +39.2s 3 Esapekka Lappi/Janne Ferm (Toyota Yaris WRC) +1m00.9s 4 Sebastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (Ford Fiesta WRC) +1m34.5s 5 Teemu Suninen/Mikko Markkula (Ford Fiesta WRC) +2m02.9s 6 Andreas Mikkelsen/Anders Jaeger (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +2m13.8s

Championship points. -

Drivers: 1, Neuville, 172; 2, Ogier, 149; 3, Tanak, 136; 4, Lappi, 88; 5, Mikkelsen, 65.

Manufacturers: 1, Hyundai, 254; 2, Toyota, 241; 3, Ford, 224; 4, Citroen, 159.