Hyundai's Thierry Neuville clinched a thrilling victory in Rally Italia Sardegna after dominating Sunday's proceedings with four stage victories.
Neuville trailed Ogier by 0.8s ahead of the 6.96km test, but delivered a daredevil drive in his Hyundai i20 to overhaul the Frenchman and claim his third win of the season by 0.7s. Neuville extended his championship lead over Ogier to 27 points.
It was the third smallest winning margin in the WRC’s 45-year history, matching Neuville’s dramatic success in Argentina last year when he performed a similar snatch and grab on Elfyn Evans.
The Belgian started the sun-kissed short final leg along Sardinia’s north-west coast 3.9s adrift of Ogier. He won the opening three tests before both drivers threw caution to the wind in the finale.
Both made mistakes on the dusty, rocky tracks but Neuville emerged on top.
“I gave it everything, it was a really great fight and such a small difference at the end,” he said. “We needed to make a decision at the start of the last stage and our decision was to go for the win. We believed strongly and pushed hard.”
Ogier was far from downhearted. "We lost one battle but definitely not the war. It’s not the time to panic. I tried everything I could today but I was always losing a few tenths here and there,” he said.
The results remain provisional after a bizarre incident at the finish of the penultimate stage when Ogier hurriedly departed in his Ford Fiesta without collecting his time card. It was later delivered to him by Ott Tänak and news is awaited on whether Ogier will receive a penalty.
Esapekka Lappi eased through the final leg’s 42.04km of action to claim third in a Toyota Yaris. With big time gaps in front and behind, the Finn took no risks to secure his first podium of the season.
Hayden Paddon shrugged off lingering back pain from an accident at the previous round in Portugal to finish fourth in an i20. After restarting with a 2.1s advantage over Mads Østberg’s Citroen C3, he distanced the Norwegian to finish 15.7s clear.
Craig Breen completed the top six after a ‘niggly’ weekend in another C3. Jari-Matti Latvala restarted after last night’s late retirement and came home seventh in a Yaris. Team-mate Ott Tänak was next up, ahead of WRC 2 winner Jan Kopecký and Teemu Suninen.
The championship pauses for a mid-season break before resuming on the blisteringly fast gravel roads of Neste Rally Finland, which is based in Jyväskylä on 26 – 29 July.
Final Result:
1. T. Neuville (Hyundai) 3:29:18.7
2. S. Ogier (M-Sport) +0.7s
3. E. Lappi (Toyota) +1:56.3s
4. H. Paddon (Hyundai) +2:55.2s
5. M. Ostberg (Citroen) +3:10.9s
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