WRC – Neuville towards victory, Hyundai towards the double

The first pass of the two special stages of the last stage of the Rally from Germany have completely shaken up the hierarchy. While he had a one-minute lead at the head of the event, Jari-Matti Latvala went off the road in Dhrontal (SS15) and put an almost definitive end to Volkswagen's hopes of a 13th consecutive victory. The Wolfsburg team had already been beaten last year on home soil by Dani Sordo's Citroën and remained undefeated this year. But the Reds also suffered a setback since Kris Meeke, who had inherited the lead in the rally, retired in the following special (Grafschaft). Citroën should not win in Germany for the first time since the event was registered in WRC (first edition in 2002).

This double abandonment among the leaders places both Hyundai de Thierry Neuville and Dani Sordo in the lead. The two drivers who fought a sumptuous duel for victory last year find themselves once again at the forefront, this time the Belgian has the advantage with more than half a minute ahead of his Spanish teammate. . Andreas Mikkelsen saves the furniture at Volkswagen since he is in the top three 20 seconds behind the Spaniard, but the Norwegian is threatened by the return of Elfyn Evans back to eight seconds. Mikko Hirvonen completes the top five with less than four seconds ahead of Mads Ostberg. Martin Prokop moved up to seventh ahead of Dennis Kuipers and Julien Maurin who retains the WRC2 lead with 24 seconds ahead of Ott Tänak. Robert Kubica retired before the start due to a transmission problem. Stéphane Lefebvre remains at the head of the JWRC.

The second pass of the day's two specials will be contested from 10:55 a.m. Videos of the event can be viewed on this link.