Sebastien Ogier must wait to secure the 2013 World Rally Championship title as late drama on Rally Australia meant his dominant victory was not sufficient to seal the crown. The Frenchman needed to out-score M-Sport’s Thierry Neuville by nine points this weekend in order to clinch the championship.
That result that looked certain until the very last stage as Ogier stormed away from the outset and Neuville settled into third after a shaky Friday morning. But then on the deciding Shipmans power stage second-placed Mikko Hirvonen picked up a puncture and lost nearly a minute.
That elevated Neuville to second, and he also took second on the power stage behind Ogier, which left the Volkswagen driver one point shy of the lead he needed to wrap up the title.
Citroen driver Hirvonen made it to the finish in third place, half a minute behind Neuville in the end. Jari-Matti Latvala was off the pace on Friday and had to fight back through from eighth to take fourth place, which he held despite a final-stage puncture.
The Finn finished just ahead of Mads Ostberg and Andreas Mikkelsen, who battled for most of the weekend.
Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari won WRC 2 and reclaimed the championship lead from the absent Robert Kubica, who is competing at home in Poland in the European Rally Championship instead.
Leading finishers after SS22: Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Sebastien Ogier VW 3h19m55.0s 2. Thierry Neuville M-Sport Ford +1m32.1s 3. Mikko Hirvonen Citroen +2m02.1s 4. Jari-Matti Latvala VW +2m57.4s 5. Mads Ostberg M-Sport Ford +3m17.2s 6. Andreas Mikkelsen VW +3m37.6s 7. Evgeny Novikov M-Sport Ford +7m31.2s 8. Nathan Quinn Italia Mini +13m10.2s 9. Khalid Al Qassimi Citroen +15m17.6s 10. Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari Seashore Ford +17m27.7s