Andreas Mikkelsen, Sébastien Ogier and Hayden Paddon are locked in a three-way battle for honours in the final round of the 2016 FIA World Rally Championship. At the end of the second day of Rally Australia, Mikkelsen is narrowly ahead by two seconds, a bizarre problem with the clutch and brake pedals this afternoon resulting in the Norwegian losing precious seconds to team-mate Ogier who has again pushed hard at the front of the field. Paddon ran as high as second this morning but slipped back to third this afternoon. He is however still within striking distance of both Ogier and Mikkelsen with one day and 57 competitive kilometres remaining.

Today was the longest of the event covering two identical loops of two stages, including the daunting 50.80 kilometre Nambucca test. The crews also returned to the Raceway and Coffs Harbour super special stages in a day that covered 135.19 competitive kilometres. Mikkelsen has had to fight hard throughout the day, holding off Paddon this morning and Ogier this afternoon. Paddon was on a charge from the outset, having declared that today’s stages were the best of the entire season. The Hyundai i20 WRC driver was over 10 seconds quicker than Mikkelsen and overhauled both Ogier and Thierry Neuville for second in the opening stage, despite dust billowing into the car covering him and co-driver John Kennard from head to foot. In the second test he was again quicker than Mikkelsen and opened up a three-way battle for victory with his Norwegian rival and third-placed Ogier. This afternoon, in the soaring temperatures, Paddon slipped back to third managing tyre wear, but the Hyundai driver is still pushing hard to climb the podium and is also a handy 21.8 seconds ahead of fourth-placed team-mate Thierry Neuville. Mikkelsen was happy with his morning despite struggling for grip, but this afternoon he lost time in the final forestry stage when, somehow, the clutch pedal bent over and was resting on the brake pedal for half the stage. He managed to maintain his lead, but the gap to Ogier was slashed to just 2.8 seconds with the two runs through the super special stage remaining. Ogier’s tyre strategy was totally different to his rivals this morning and the Frenchman was happy to maintain position on his soft compound rubber. On a mission in the second run through the Nambucca stage, he overhauled Paddon and then benefitted when Mikkelsen had his problems.

Neuville slipped from third to fourth this morning, managing tyres and backing off three or four times because of hanging dust. Determined not to give up on the podium battle he has continued to push and set fastest time in the final forestry stage this afternoon. Team-mate Dani Sordo has climbed to fifth despite an overshoot this morning, but he is fighting hard to keep ahead of Mads Østberg, who is only 1.4 seconds behind. His team-mate Eric Camilli continues to have a good run in his first outing in Australia, but eighth placed Ott Tanak is having a difficult event, the Estonian struggling with tyre wear in the hot conditions. Lorenzo Bertelli has climbed back into ninth and Esapekka Lappi is 10th. The Finn is fighting for the FIA WRC 2 Championship crown in Australia and simply needs to finish first or second to claim a maiden title. He has utterly dominated proceedings and has won all but one stage of the event so far to head Nicholas Fuchs in the category. Michel Fabre continues his lonely FIA WRC 3 Championship campaign as the sole competitor in this two-wheel drive series.

After the disappointment of yesterday, Jari-Matti Latvala has bounced back, the Finn finally regaining the feeling after admitting to being ‘lost’ for months. He is 11th with two stage victories under his belt today.

Rally Australia – Unofficial Classification after Section 6