Sebastien Ogier is on course to secure his and Volkswagen’s first ever world rally championship drivers’ title after further solidifying his lead at the 2013 Rally Australia by winning all of Saturday’s morning and afternoon stages.
Ogier heads into the final day of competition around 45 seconds clear of second-placed Mikko Hirvonen who is yet to score a win this season. Thierry Neuville holds onto third overall; the Belgian is 25 seconds behind Hirvonen.
Jari-Matti Latvala got promoted to fourth place overall following disaster for Kris Meeke who rolled his Citroen DS3 on the repeated 49.9-kilometer Nambucca stage (SS13).
Andreas Mikkelsen and Mads Ostberg are locked in a tight battle for fifth place, with the former managing to get past his rival on SS14, before extending the gap to 2.5 seconds.
Arab drivers Khalid Al-Qassimi and Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari are doing a very fine job down under; they are ninth and tenth overall respectively.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Sebastien Ogier VW 2:14:53.9 2. Mikko Hirvonen Citroen +45.9 3. Thierry Neuville M-Sport Ford +1:11.4 4. Jari-Matti Latvala VW +1:47.6 5. Andreas Mikkelsen VW +2:10.8 6. Mads Ostberg M-Sport Ford +2:13.3 7. Evgeny Novikov M-Sport Ford +6:36.6 8. Nathan Quinn Italia Mini +9:10.8 9. Khalid Al Qassimi Citroen +10:23.0 10. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari Seashore Ford +12:00.1