Sebastien Ogier has taken a dominant victory on Rally Australia, but just missed out on the chance to wrap up the 2013 title.
The Frenchman steered his Volkswagen Polo R through the final 29km Shipmans test to win by 1min 32sec from Thierry Neuville, who snatched second on the final stage after Mikko Hirvonen got a puncture.
Neuville’s promotion prevented Ogier from taking enough points to secure the 2013 WRC drivers’ title here.
Ogier rounded off his weekend with the fastest time through Shipmans to bag three Power Stage points. Neuville took two for second, with Novikov taking the final point for third.
More to follow…
| Pos. | # | Driver | Cat. | Time | Diff / Prev | Diff / 1st |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 8 | S. OGIER | M | 3:19:55.0 | ||
| 2. | 11 | T. NEUVILLE | M | 3:21:27.1 | +1:32.1 | +1:32.1 |
| 3. | 2 | M. HIRVONEN | M | 3:21:57.1 | +30.0 | +2:02.1 |
| 4. | 7 | J. LATVALA | M | 3:22:52.4 | +55.3 | +2:57.4 |
| 5. | 4 | M. OSTBERG | M | 3:23:12.2 | +19.8 | +3:17.2 |
| 6. | 9 | A. MIKKELSEN | M | 3:23:32.6 | +20.4 | +3:37.6 |
| 7. | 5 | E. NOVIKOV | M | 3:27:26.2 | +3:53.6 | +7:31.2 |
| 8. | 22 | N. QUINN | 3:33:05.2 | +5:39.0 | +13:10.2 | |
| 9. | 10 | K. AL QASSIMI | M | 3:35:12.6 | +2:07.4 | +15:17.6 |
| 10. | 48 | A. AL-KUWARI | WRC2 | 3:37:22.7 | +2:10.1 | +17:27.7 |
| 11. | 82 | Y. PROTASOV | WRC2 | 3:38:36.1 | +1:13.4 | +18:41.1 |
| 12. | 3 | K. MEEKE | M | 3:39:15.2 | +39.1 | +19:20.2 |
| 13. | 35 | Y. AL RAJHI | WRC2 | 3:44:23.7 | +5:08.5 | +24:28.7 |
| 14. | 40 | A. SMAILOV | WRC2 | 4:04:59.4 | +20:35.7 | +45:04.4 |
| 15. | 99 | S. TURNER | 4:06:06.7 | +1:07.3 | +46:11.7 | |
| 16. | 96 | A. COPPIN | 4:07:22.4 | +1:15.7 | +47:27.4 | |
| 17. | 84 | H. PADDON | WRC2 | 4:07:46.9 | +24.5 | +47:51.9 |
| 18. | 91 | A. LOMBARDO | WRC2 | 4:13:40.9 | +5:54.0 | +53:45.9 |
| 19. | 94 | M. GRIGG | 4:22:31.4 | +8:50.5 | +1:02:36.4 | |
| 20. | 98 | M. CIVIL | 4:25:48.8 | +3:17.4 | +1:05:53.8 |