Ott Tänak breaks M-Sport curse in Germany

Leader since Friday afternoon, Ott Tänak (Ford) mastered the last two days of the Rally from Germany to win his first victory on asphalt in the premier category of rallying, a second victory in 2017 after Sardinia earlier in the year. M-Sport finally signs a success in this event which was missing from his record.

The Estonian from M-Sport concluded the event with a lead of 16″4 over the Citroën C3 of Andreas Mikkelsen. Sébastien Ogier (Ford) completes the podium at 30″4. “That's the most important thing, we wanted points, comments Ogier. It wasn't always easy, and after Thierry left, I was sometimes reserved. But it's a good result for the championship. »

Neuville failed to limit the damage in the Power Stage by only setting the sixth fastest time in this special, and not scoring any bonus points. In the world championship, Sébastien Ogier regains first place in the standings with 17 points ahead of Neuville before the last three rallies of the season. Ott Tänak is 33 points behind the French leader in third position.

Breen overtakes Evans at the finish

Juho Hänninen (Toyota) fails at the foot of the podium after having won third place in Finland. The Yaris driver WRC took the advantage of Elfyn Evans (Ford) for fourth position this Sunday morning before widening the gap on the M-Sport driver.

The latter finally finished his event in 6th place, without being able to resist the return of Craig Breen (Citroën), who went fifth in the Power Stage. Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota) follows in the standings ahead of Hayden Paddon (Hyundai), Armin Kremer (Ford).

Dani Sordo (Hyundai) was the fastest in the Power Stage and scored the five points awarded to the best performer in this final timed sector. The Spaniard beat Esapekka Lappi and Jari-Matti Latvala, Sébastien Ogier and Craig Breen in this special.

Camilli winner in WRC-2, Tidemand titled

Eric Camilli (Ford Fiesta R5), tenth in the general classification, wins the event in the WRC-2 category and offers a perfect result for M-Sport. The Frenchman is ahead of Jan Kopecky (Skoda Fabia R5), who will regret his puncture on Saturday for a long time, and Pontus Tidemand (Skoda Fabia R5), who wins the title in the category.

We are the 2017 # WRC2 champions!! Incredible feeling! We have worked so hard for this, huge thanks to everyone! pic.twitter.com/tdhGzuS5So

— Pontus Tidemand (@PontusTidemand) August 20

The French Quentin Gilbert (Skoda Fabia R5) and Pierre-Louis Loubet (Ford Fiesta R5) finished in the top 5. Jean-Michel Raoux (Citroën DS3) won in the WRC Trophy, while Julius Tannert emerged victorious in the Junior WRC. Nil Solans is crowned for his part in WRC-3.

Rally Germany ranking

Discover the full report and analysis of the German Rally, produced by our special correspondents across the Rhine, in issue 2128 of AUTOhebdo, available tomorrow evening in digital version and this Wednesday on newsstands.