WRC: Fourth consecutive win for Ogier at Wales

Sebastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia (Volkswagen Motorsport) confirms their domination in the 2016 World Rally Championship season with sixth victoryin twelve events. The French duo in the #1 Volkswagen Polo R WRC wins the 72nd Wales Rally GB, the penultimate round of the 2016 WRC season. For Ogier, it’s fourth consecutive victory in Wales.

Ott Tanak scored his second podium of the season

Ogier in the lead from the first to last special stage

Ogier took the lead in the SS1 on Friday morning and stayed in front until the Sunday afternoon’s Power Stage. After 22 stages and 330 competitive kilometers, Ogier was 10.2 seconds ahead of second-placed Ott Tanak (DMACK World Rally Team, Ford Fiesta RS WRC). Thierry Neuville (Hyundai Motorsport) completed the podium, finishing 1 minute 25.2 seconds behind Tanak. After his sixth podium of the season, including one victory, Neuville is now alone in the second place of the championship standings, with one more round to go.

His main rival Andreas Mikkelsen (Volkswagen) finished out of the points at Wales. His efforts were ruined with a driveshaft failure during the first day, when he dropped almost eight minutes behind Neuville. From the 19th place on Friday, Mikkelsen progressed to the 12th position at the end. He earned two additional points in the Power Stage. Ahead of Rally Australia (November 18-21), Neuville has 14 points more than Mikkelsen (143-129).

Thierry Neuville finished third in the muddy British WRC round

Three-way battle for the championship runner-up spot

Hayden Paddon (Hyundai Motorsport), who finished fourth at Wales, is just three points behind Mikkelsen. As Sebastien Ogier already secured his fourth consecutive title, it would be a three-way battle for the runner-up spot in the 2016 championship. Theoretically, Dani Sordo (Hyundai Motorsport) also has a chance to finish second, but he need a victory in Australia. In Wales, Sordo finished sixth, behind Kris Meeke (Abu Dhabi Total WRT, Citroen DS3 WRC).

Other point scorers in the British round of the championship are Jari-Matti Latvala (Volkswagen), Mads Ostberg (M-Sport Ford), Stephane Lefebvre (Citroen) and Eric Camilli (M-Sport Ford). Esapekka Lappi (Škoda Motorsport, Škoda Fabia R5) finished 11th overall and took the victory in the WRC2 classification. Teemu Suninen (Team Oreca, Škoda Fabia R5) finished third and now is tied up with Elfyn Evans in the WRC2 championship standings, ahead of season’s finale in Australia.