Sébastien Ogier snatched a dramatic last-gasp victory at Rally Sweden after a titanic three-car tussle through Sunday’s final speed test.
Team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen held a 3.0sec advantage going into the closing 15.87km of the four-day snow rally. He maintained his advantage until the final third of the stage when he touched a bank and spun his Volkswagen Polo R into the snow.
That handed victory to the championship leader, who held off Thierry Neuville. The Belgian led going into today’s final leg and finished 6.4sec behind Ogier in a Hyundai i20, with the recovering Mikkelsen a further 33.4sec back in third.
Ogier’s charge earned him three bonus points for winning the rally-closing live TV Power Stage. Neuville claimed two points for second with Mads Østberg taking one point in third.
More news to follow.
| Pos. | # | Driver | Time | Diff / Prev | Diff / 1st |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 1 | OGIER | 2:55:30.5 | ||
| 2. | 7 | NEUVILLE | 2:55:36.9 | +6.4 | +6.4 |
| 3. | 9 | MIKKELSEN | 2:56:10.3 | +33.4 | +39.8 |
| 4. | 6 | TANAK | 2:57:56.5 | +1:46.2 | +2:26.0 |
| 5. | 8 | PADDON | 2:59:02.0 | +1:05.5 | +3:31.5 |
| 6. | 5 | EVANS | 2:59:23.5 | +21.5 | +3:53.0 |
| 7. | 3 | MEEKE | 2:59:36.3 | +12.8 | +4:05.8 |
| 8. | 21 | PROKOP | 2:59:56.5 | +20.2 | +4:26.0 |
| 9. | 17 | PROTASOV | 3:01:02.7 | +1:06.2 | +5:32.2 |
| 10. | 4 | OSTBERG | 3:02:21.4 | +1:18.7 | +6:50.9 |
| 11. | 20 | ABBRING | 3:03:26.1 | +1:04.7 | +7:55.6 |
| 12. | 2 | LATVALA | 3:04:42.4 | +1:16.3 | +9:11.9 |
| 13. | 14 | SOLBERG | 3:05:03.2 | +20.8 | +9:32.7 |
| 14. | 40 | KETOMAA | 3:05:07.4 | +4.2 | +9:36.9 |
| 15. | 71 | BRYNILDSEN | 3:05:40.0 | +32.6 | +10:09.5 |
| 16. | 41 | GORBAN | 3:08:34.8 | +2:54.8 | +13:04.3 |
| 17. | 31 | AL RAJHI | 3:08:47.6 | +12.8 | +13:17.1 |
| 18. | 39 | TIDEMAND | 3:08:50.9 | +3.3 | +13:20.4 |
| 19. | 36 | AHLIN | 3:09:42.0 | +51.1 | +14:11.5 |
| 20. | 16 | KUBICA | 3:10:05.9 | +23.9 | +14:35.4 |