Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia won Wales Rally GB today, the French pair not only racking up their first gravel win of the season but more importantly the FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers for Volkswagen Motorsport*. After a fine performance, Ott Tanak and Raigo Molder finished second – equalling their best result of the year – and Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul took the final podium position.

In the FIA World Rally Championship, Ogier has already provisionally taken his fourth consecutive world title and now Volkswagen Motorsport has equalled his record by winning the all-important Manufacturers’ Championship too. The fight for second and third in the Drivers’ Championship does however continue and, as Andreas Mikkelsen finished an uncharacteristic 12th after his broken driveshaft, Thierry Neuville now takes second by 14 points. 

The final day of the penultimate round of the FIA World Rally Championship was the shortest and included two identical loops of three stages covering just 52.08 competitive kilometres. Ogier was forced to continue pushing through the opening loop, knowing he was going to lose time with today’s road position. Tanak, who started the day 33.8 seconds adrift, was on a charge and the Estonian won every single stage but simply ran out of kilometres to catch the reigning world champion. In the end, the rivals were split by just 10.2 seconds, Tanak taking the Power Stage victory and Ogier also winning his fourth consecutive Rally GB. Neuville consolidated his third position ahead of team-mate Hayden Paddon and Kris Meeke finished a disappointing fifth. Dani Sordo spent the day trying different set-ups, which appeared to improve his performance, and he finished sixth ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala, the Finn managing to power ahead of Mads Østberg. On his return to the WRC after his Rallye Deutschland accident, Stephane Lefebvre finished a creditable ninth ahead of Eric Camilli.

In the FIA WRC 2 Championship, the battle was intense behind category winner Esapekka Lappi, the Finn ultimately finishing with a 29.1 second advantage. Teemu Suninen held second but blistering times by Pontus Tidemand saw him overhauled in the final stage and Tidemand claimed second by just 1.1 seconds. The battle for the Championship title will now be decided on Rally Australia between Teemu Suninen and Esapekka Lappi, unusually with only Lappi competing down under, Suninen having completed his nominated rounds.

In the FIA Junior WRC/WRC 3 Championship, Martin Koci took his first win of the season in fine style, leading from start to finish, and ended up with over two minutes on Simone Tempestini. Both battled hard but for Tempestini – who has already provisionally won the FIA Junior WRC Championship – he was able to secure the WRC 3 Championship* title in Wales, his nearest rival finishing fifth.

The final round of the 2017 FIA World Rally Championship takes the contenders to Coffs Harbour for the all-gravel round at Rally Australia (17-20 November).

Wales Rally GB – Final Unofficial Classification (subject to final scrutineering)

* Subject to the official publication of the results by the FIA