Neuville wins in Australia, Latvala falls

Thierry Neuville won for the first time the Rally from Australia, his sixth success in WRC, retaining the lead of the race at the end of the Power Stage. Faced with particularly heavy showers, the organizers had to cancel the second passage of Pilbara Reserve (9,93km), which facilitated the end of the event for the Belgian who will remain the biggest winner of this season.

The vice-world champion won with more than 22 seconds ahead of Ott Tänak (M-Sport) qui signe son septième podium de l’année tandis que Hayden Paddon (Hyundai) complète le tiercé de tête. Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota) a tout perdu en sortant de la route dans la dernière spéciale du parcours.

@JariMattiWRC SS21 (Powerstage) #RallyAustralia #WRC pic.twitter.com/rAzXNWjR5x

— WRC (@OfficialWRC) November 19, 2017

Transparent this weekend, particularly disrupted by recurring gearbox problems, Sébastien Ogier (M-Sport) took fourth place having taken care of winning the Power Stage. His one-minute penalty did not change the result, the five-time world champion being 1'28 behind the Hyundai on the podium. The Frenchman precedes Elfyn Evans (M-Sport).

Esapekka Lappi (Toyota) managed to finish sixth ahead of Kris Meeke (Citroën) who went through Rally 2.

Discover the analysis of the Rally Australia carried out by our special correspondent in issue 2141 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from Wednesday on newsstands.