Sébastien Ogier has extended his lead over team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala during the second day of ADAC Rallye Deutschland and the Frenchman heads into the closing day on Sunday with an impressive 33.8 second advantage. While Latvala has been able to outpace him on some stages, a commanding performance by Ogier this afternoon sealed his position at the head of the field and sees him top a Volkswagen one-two-three with Andreas Mikkelsen maintaining third.

Today was the longest day of the event and again took in a variety of tests, including stages in the vineyards and at the daunting Baumholder military grounds where many a rally driver has been caught out on the tank training tracks. The day also included two runs through the 45.61 kilometre Panzerplatte stage, the longest and toughest of the rally.

Ogier started the day with less than 10 seconds in hand to Latvala, but victory in the first stage marked his intent to control the field. As ever, the Frenchman has enjoyed a trouble-free day and with wins in a further five stages, including extending his lead by a whopping 15.3 seconds in the second run of the Panzerplatte test, Ogier is on course to secure victory in a round of the Championship he hasn't won since 2011. Despite winning three stages and feeling comfortable with the car and his driving, Latvala had no answer to the times being set by his team-mate. He is nevertheless over 30 seconds ahead of Mikkelsen and Volkswagen looks set to record not only the best possible event result, but by far its best result on its home round of the series.

Behind the leading trio, the fight between the leading Hyundai i20 WRC drivers continued. Dani Sordo held the advantage last night but lost out to Thierry Neuville after the second stage, the Spaniard suffering with a gearbox issue on the tight and twisty roads in the vineyards. He managed to regain the position this afternoon as Neuville lost confidence with some understeer and braking issues and the pair ended the day just 9.5 seconds apart. Elfyn Evans has maintained sixth, the Welshman running well and his only scare being a near off after hitting a patch of gravel on a jump. Mads Østberg has climbed to seventh after a mixed day. A handbrake issue hampered him this morning and then he was too cautious this afternoon, especially where gravel had been drawn onto the road. But, the Norwegian has seen improvement throughout the event and is a mere 3.2 seconds adrift of overhauling Evans. Ott Tanak enjoyed a good morning, but this afternoon the Estonian clipped a rock and then went off the road in the penultimate stage. As a consequence, he dropped behind Østberg. Hayden Paddon has struggled most of the day, unable to explain his slow times. This afternoon, however, a problem with the Hyundai turbo revealed the source of the problem. Stephane Lefebvre continues to impress in his first outing in a world rally car. The Frenchman is not only 10th overall, but also set a second-fastest time.

Martin Prokop has had a catalogue of problems today and holds 13th, and Rally 2 returnee Kris Meeke has been setting some top times in the DS 3 WRC. With his penalties, he sits nearly 90 seconds behind Prokop in 14th. Robert Kubica was forced into retirement with damaged suspension in the Panzerplatte stage.

Jan Kopecky continues to set a hot pace in the FIA WRC 2 Championship category, the Czech driver ahead by over four minutes, and Andrea Crugnola continues to gain experience of the event as the only contender in the FIA WRC 3 Championship.

ADAC Rallye Deutschland – Unofficial Results after Section 4