July 3, 2016 – Andreas Mikkelsen was handed an unexpected victory at Rally Poland on Sunday when a puncture just kilometers from the finish denied Ott Tanak a maiden World Rally Championsip success.
Heavy rain made the sandy roads treacherously slippery and long-time leader Tänak dropped 40sec in the penultimate speed test to hand the Norwegian victory by 26.2sec in a Volkswagen Polo R.
A devastated Tänak recovered to finish second in his Ford Fiesta RS with Hayden Paddon third in a Hyundai i20, a further 2.3sec back.
Championship leader Sébastien Ogier won the final live TV Power Stage to claim three bonus points in a Polo R. Team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala took two points for second while Thierry Neuville secured the final point in third in an i20.
Pos. | Driver | Team | Gap |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Andreas Mikkelsen
Anders Jaeger |
Volkswagen | 2h37m34.4s |
2 | Ott Tanak
Raigo Molder |
Ford | +26.2s |
3 | Hayden Paddon
John Kennard |
Hyundai | +28.5s |
4 | Thierry Neuville
Nicolas Gilsoul |
Hyundai | +29.3s |
5 | Jari-Matti Latvala
Miikka Anttila |
Volkswagen | +33.8s |
6 | Sebastien Ogier
Julien Ingrassia |
Volkswagen | +40.3s |
7 | Craig Breen
Martin Scott |
Citroen | +2m01.4s |
8 | Mads Ostberg
Ola Floene |
Ford | +3m04.6s |
9 | Eric Camilli
Benjamin Veillas |
Ford | +5m23.1s |
10 | Teemu Suninen
Mikko Markkula |
Skoda | +5m53.3 |