Thierry Neuville beats Sébastien Ogier at the finish in Sardinia

With less than 4″ gap between Sébastien Ogier (M-Sport Ford) and Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) avant cette dernière étape du Rally from Italy -Sardinia, it was obvious that the suspense would be complete until the end of the Power Stage, but the two great rivals for the world title offered a breathtaking scenario.

Best time of the first three SS, Neuville had reduced the gap to eight tenths before the final confrontation on the 6,96 km of Sassari – Argentiera. Enough to put pressure on Sébastien Ogier, who left SS19 even forgetting his time card, beforeOtt Tänak does not report the document to the Frenchman.

The final course, which concluded by the sea, will finally smile on Thierry Neuville, author of the best time, 1″4 ahead of Ogier, and final winner with a gap of seven tenths at the finish.

The timecard incident left the final result in suspense for a while, before the race commissioners finally sanctioned Ogier a fine of €10 and suspended points withdrawal.

« We gave everything and it was a great fight, commented the Belgian after the finish. Such a small difference in the end. Thanks to the team. » With the five points from the Power Stage, Neuville has done well in the championship, now 27 points ahead in the standings.

Esapekka Lappi (Toyota) complète le podium final de cette épreuve à 1’56″3, devant Hayden Paddon (Hyundai), Mads Ostberg (Citroën), Craig Breen (Citroën) and the Toyotas of Jari-Matti Latvala and Ott Tänak.

Ninth in the general classification, Jan Kopecky (Skoda Fabia R5) logically won in WRC2, his third success in three starts in 2018. The top 10 in the general classification is completed by Teemu Suninen (M-Sport Ford) who dislodged from the tenth place Martin Prokop (Ford Fiesta WRC) in the Power Stage.

In WRC2, Ole Christian Veiby (Skoda Fabia R5) finished 2nd, after getting the better of Frenchman Nicolas Ciamin (Hyundai i19 R20) in SS5. The latter, however, won a nice podium on the Sardinian slopes.

In WRC3, Jean-Baptiste Franceschi wins ahead of Taisko Lario.

Provisional WRC standings after SS20 –
1. Neuville 3h 29m 18.7sec
2. Ogier +0.7sec
3. Lappi +1m 56.3sec
4. Paddon +2m 55.2sec
5. Østberg +3m 10.9sec #WRC

— WRC (@OfficialWRC) June 10, 2018

Discover the full report and analysis of the Rally Italy, produced by our special correspondent in Sardinia, in issue 2169 of AUTOhebdo, available tomorrow evening in digital version, and from this Wednesday on newsstands.