Frenchman Sebastien Ogier finally put to an end his six-event winless drought and won the ADAC Rallye Deutschland thereby recording his third win of his WRC career on Germany’s tough asphalt roads. He thus extends his lead at the top of the drivers’ championship standings by 14 points, while Volkswagen tops the manufacturers’ championship, thanks to a 55-point lead.
Even though it was a tough start for Ogier when he overshot a hairpin in leg one of the rally, he managed to keep his Polo R steady and a day earlier before the last day of the rally he proved his mettle at the infamous Baumholder military proving ground where he easily swept rally leader – and team-mate – Andreas Mikkelsen aside.
With a 20.3s lead, Ogier was able to control his pace at the front on the final leg and emerged from the ninth round of the championship with a precisely-crafted 20.3s advantage over Hyundai’s Dani Sordo. In fact, the Hyundai i20 WRC pair of Sordo and Thierry Neuville outpaced Mikkelsen on the final day in the early stage. Sordo, on the other hand, almost lost second position to his team-mate on the final stage.
In the final stages the race was fought fiercely among three drivers— Dani Sordo, Thierry Neuville and Mikkelsen Only 4.1s separated all three drivers when they entered the 14.84km Power Stage. Although Neuville topped the Power Stage times with a determined drive and scored an extra three championship points for his efforts, Sordo’s fourth fastest time was just enough to guarantee second place overall – by a margin of just 0.1s!
Neuville therefore claimed the final podium spot, while a disappointed Mikkelsen – who narrowly avoided a couple of Power Stage spins as he lost the brakes on his Polo R – had to settle for fourth, according to the WRC report..
Completing the top six and the list of World Rally Cars that survived the rally distance, Hayden Paddon was a further three minutes behind in his Hyundai, while Mads Ostberg had a frustrating time as he could only guide his Ford Fiesta RS to sixth place.
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