Paddon holds off Ogier in Argentina

La victoire d’Hayden Paddon (Hyundai) semblait acquise au soir de la deuxième étape du Rally from Argentina, the New Zealander having half a minute ahead of Sébastien Ogier (Volkswagen).

The three-time world champion nevertheless managed to come back to within two seconds of the leader before the Power Stage, but the driver of the i20 WRC reacted by winning by 14 seconds over the Frenchman, winning the Power Stage in front of his teammate Dani Sordo and his direct opponent. This is Paddon's first success in the WRC, a result achieved with panache following the retirement of Jari-Matti Latvala (Volkswagen) who dismounted again in the last special.

Andreas Mikkelsen (Volkswagen) completes the podium after maintaining a dozen seconds lead over Dani Sordo. Mads Ostberg (Ford) completes the top five, more than three minutes behind the Spaniard.

Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) takes sixth place after taking over Marcos Ligato (Citroën) and Henning Solberg (Ford). The Norwegian finally finished ninth after being taken over by Éric Camilli (Ford). Nicolas Fuchs (Skoda Fabia R5) completes the top ten by winning in WRC 2.

Discover the analysis of the Rally Argentina carried out by our special correspondents in issue 2060 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from Wednesday on newsstands.