Wales Rally GB: Ogier closed the season with eighth victory

World champion Sebastien Ogier (Volkwagen) scored his eighth win of the season in the Wales Rally GB. He thus brought to a close a year in which he  managed his third world championship title. Volkswagen Motorsport also continued the winning streak with three consecutive manufacturers’ titles.

Irishman Kris Meeke took the second place at Wales Rally GB and secured the second spot for Citroen Total Abu Dhabi WRT in the manufacturer’s classification. His team-mate Mads Ostberg contributed with seventh place, while Hyundai drivers Dani Sordo and Hayden Paddon finished fourth and fifth respectively, so the Korean-German squad remained in the third place in the championship standings.

Andreas Mikklesen rounded the successful weekend for Volkswagen with a third place finish, 10.2 seconds behind Meeke. Other drivers who took points in Wales are Elfyn Evans (Ford, 6th), Stephane Lefebvre (Citroen, 8th), Robert Kubica (9th, Ford) and Lorenzo Bertelli (10th, Ford). Kubica also took one additional points at the final Power Stage, which he finished behind Jari-Matti Latvala and Andreas Mikkelsen. Latvala was the fastest in all four of Sunday’s special stages, which is a bit of a relief after two retirements on Friday and Saturday.

Teemu Suninen and his experienced co-driver Mikko Markkula took the victory in WRC2 class with a Škoda Fabia S2000. They jumped to the top in the final stage, after previous leader Eric Camilli had a problem with the engine of  his Ford Fiesta R5. Camilli crossed the finish line and dropped to second overall, ahead of Craig Breen in Peugeot 208 T16. Norwegian Ole Christian Veiby won in the Junior WRC and WRC3 category.