ROUND-BY-ROUND
1 Monte Carlo Rally JANUARY 24-27
Sebastien Ogier makes the perfect return to Citroen with a debut win aboard the C3 WRC. That’s six straight wins on the rally that means most to the reigning champion – and with three different manufacturers. Thierry Neuville is a very close second, ruing a Friday overshoot that costs him 15 seconds. Ott Tanak leads early on but loses time with a puncture and finishes third, one place ahead of former Monte Carlo master Sebastien Loeb, who hits the ground running with fourth on his debut at his new WRC home, Hyundai.
1 Sebastien Ogier/julien Ingrassia (Citroen) 2 Thierry Neuville/nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai) 3 Ott Tanak/martin Jarveoja (Toyota) 2 Rally Sweden FEBRUARY 14-17
Teemu Suninen leads a World Rally Championship round overnight for the first time in his career, but Ott Tanak’s Toyota is only two seconds behind M-sport’s Finn heading into Saturday. The pressure gets to Suninen and he falls victim to a Hagfors snowbank, leaving Tanak to manage a gap at the front of the field. There’s a huge battle for the podium places, with Andreas Mikkelsen running second before he fades to fourth. Mikkelsen’s Hyundai team-mate Thierry Neuville hassles Esapekka Lappi for the runner-up spot, but loses out to the Finn on the final stage.
1 Ott Tanak/martin Jarveoja (Toyota) 2 Esapekka Lappi/janne Ferm (Citroen) 3 Thierry Neuville/nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai) 3 Rally Mexico MARCH 7-10
Sebastien Ogier makes it two out of three for 2019 and five Mexico wins in seven years. The Citroen driver enjoys a clean run on the first hot event of the season. Elfyn Evans returns to the scene of his big shunt 12 months ago and is immediately on the pace for M-sport – he runs second for much of the event before losing that place to Ott Tanak (who recovers from sweeping the gravel clear on Friday) on the final day. Thierry Neuville can find no confidence in the i20 but makes fourth, while Benito Guerra is given a hero’s welcome at home, finishing sixth and top R5 in his Skoda.
1 Sebastien Ogier/julien
Ingrassia (Citroen)
2 Ott Tanak/martin
Jarveoja (Toyota)
3 Elfyn Evans/
Scott
Martin (Ford)
Tour of Corsica ARCH 28-31
er the pain of losing second place on the vious round, Elfyn Evans feels real agony he loses a win on the French island. The sta WRC driver is 11s up on Thierry uville going into the final stage, but ps to third with a powerstage puncture. uville’s first victory of the season moves to the top of the points table, with bastien Ogier’s second place keeping close behind. That second comes spite frustration for the Frenchman, who ls the C3 WRC is lacking asphalt pace. That’s thing compared with Ott Tanak’s frustration – leads early on but slips to sixth with a puncture. hierry Neuville/nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai) ebastien Ogier/julien Ingrassia (Citroen) lfyn Evans/scott Martin (Ford)
5 Rally Argentina APRIL 25-28
Thierry Neuville extends his championship lead with back-to-back wins. He’s quick to praise the Hyundai team after muchneeded speed and stability is found from the car. He’s also aware that he might have dodged a couple of Ott Tanak-shaped bullets after the Toyota man stops with an electrical problem on the second day. Andreas Mikkelsen happily grabs second place – just what he needed after being benched for the previous round. Sebastien Ogier steals third spot from Kris Meeke on the powerstage after the Northern Irishman suffers a puncture four miles from the end.
1 Thierry Neuville/nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai)
2 Andreas Mikkelsen/anders Jaeger (Hyundai) 3 Sebastien Ogier/julien Ingrassia (Citroen)
6 Rally Chile MAY 9-12
An opening-stage stall aside, this is pretty much the perfect way for Ott Tanak to play himself back into the title fight – he leads from SS2 until the finish. Championship leader Thierry Neuville slips to third after a big crash on Saturday’s second test. The battle for second is an all-french affair between Sebastiens Ogier and Loeb. The champion holds his former team-mate off and moves back to the top of the table courtesy of the runner-up spot. Loeb is satisfied with his first podium for his new employer. M-sporters Elfyn Evans and Teemu Suninen round out the top five. 1 Ott Tanak/martin Jarveoja (Toyota) 2 Sebastien Ogier/julien
Ingrassia (Citroen)
3 Sebastien Loeb/
Daniel Elena (Hyundai)