Thierry Neuville won a thrilling Rally Poland to claim his third victory of the season on Sunday, closing the gap to championship leader Sébastien Ogier to just 11 points with five rounds remaining.
The Hyundai driver was in an intense battle with M-Sport's Ott Tänak, with the pair trading fastest stage times over the course of the rally; the lead changed hands 10 times across 23 stages.
But the battle was diffused when Tänak crashed out of the lead with three stages remaining. The Estonian hit a tree and had to crawl across the finish line, but the damage proved too great to repair and he later retired.
Hayden Paddon was promoted to second and ended a torrid 12 months since his last podium. The Kiwi could not match the pace of the early starters on Friday’s rain-soaked and sludgy tracks, but an error-free event, combined with several stage wins as conditions improved, brought its reward.
With Paddon and Ogier more than a minute behind, Neuville's third victory of the year was all but guaranteed as long as he kept it on track.
"Ott drove a great rally," commented Neuville. "In such a fight nobody gives up. I wasn’t ready to give up and was prepared to win.
"I was sorry for him and congratulate him on the job he did before he crashed. He was amazing again and one guy who was hard to beat."
Ogier pushed through his various issues to complete the podium, finishing 26.6 seconds clear of Hyundai's Dani Sordo. The Spaniard punctured a tyre but ended 24.4s clear of Stéphane Lefebvre, who equalled his career-best result.
A final stage spin cost Teemu Suninen fifth, but the Finn was hugely impressive on his World Rally Car debut. Mads Østberg and Elfyn Evans were next up while Andreas Mikkelsen overhauled Juho Hänninen for tenth in the final stage.
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