ROUND BY ROUND
7 Rally Italy JUNE 7-10
This is the World Rally Championship at its absolute best. Helped by unseasonal heavy rain on the opening day, title protagonists Thierry Neuville and Sebastien Ogier raise themselves above and beyond everybody else and it’s all eyes on them as they head into the final stage of a Sardinian classic. Neuville overturns Ogier’s 0.8s lead to win on the Italian island, strengthening his series lead ahead of the summer break. Esapekka Lappi makes his first trip to the 2018 podium with third, going someway to making up for a second successive retirement for Ott Tanak. 1 Thierry Neuville (Hyundai i20) 2 Sebastien Ogier (Ford Fiesta) 3 Esapekka Lappi (Toyota Yaris)
8 Rally Finland JULY 26-29
Taking a second per kilometre out of everybody in the Moksi stage is almost unheard of. Yet Tanak does just that to set up a first Estonian win in Jyvaskyla for 15 years. Driving a Toyota built just up the road in Puuppola, Tanak humbles the best of the rest with an outrageously quick Finland win. Citroen stand-in Mads Ostberg makes the most of new C3 geometry and a favourable place on the road to lead early on. He finishes second, edging local hero Jari-matti Latvala in a final-stage thriller. 1 Ott Tanak (Toyota Yaris) 2 Mads Ostberg (Citroen C3) 3 Jari-matti Latvala (Toyota Yaris)
9 Rally Germany AUGUST 16-19
Tanak is untouchable in his successful pursuit of back-to-back wins in Germany. Behind him, the championship battle intensifies. Ogier looks to be the only man capable of threatening the Estonian’s runaway Toyota, but he’s forced to stop and change a puncture and can only manage fourth. Series leader Neuville endures an indifferent event, struggling with transmission issues for the first half of the rally and is relieved to make it to the finish in second place ahead of Lappi. 1 Ott Tanak (Toyota Yaris) 2 Thierry Neuville (Hyundai i20) 3 Esapekka Lappi (Toyota Yaris)
10 Rally Turkey SEPTEMBER 13-16
First thing Saturday morning and championship leader Neuville hits trouble as the front-left damper bursts through the bonnet. He’s out. And chief title rival Ogier damages the front-right of his Fiesta. Crucially, the M-sport crew make it to service before sliding off the road on the very next stage. You couldn’t make this up! Having been nowhere for two days, Tanak finds himself in the lead and cruising to a third successive win. 1 Ott Tanak (Toyota Yaris) 2 Jari-matti Latvala (Toyota Yaris) 3 Hayden Paddon (Hyundai i20)
11 Rally GB OCTOBER 4-7
Tanak has two objectives in Wales: to score a fifth win of the year and play himself into the race for the drivers’ championship. The Estonian is magnificent through the opening day, pulling himself half a minute clear of the chasing pack. It all goes wrong when the radiator is damaged second time through Sweet Lamb. Ogier steps in to take a sensational victory from under the nose of an inspired Latvala. Neuville’s at the races before he slides into a ditch. He finishes fifth. 1 Sebastien Ogier (Ford Fiesta) 2 Jari-matti Latvala (Toyota Yaris) 3 Esapekka Lappi (Toyota Yaris)
12 Rally Spain
OCTOBER 25-28
Not even the great man himself thinks it’s possible. But it is: Sebastien Loeb winds back the years and clinches a ninth Rally Spain victory. And the Frenchman does it in the best way possible, gambling on a final-morning tyre choice that proves inspired and enough to seal Citroen’s only victory of 2018. Of more relevance in terms of the championship fight, his countryman Ogier is second and moves past a fourth-placed Neuville to the top of the table with one round remaining. 1 Sebastien Loeb (Citroen C3) 2 Sebastien Ogier (Ford Fiesta) 3 Elfyn Evans (Ford Fiesta)
13 Rally Australia NOVEMBER 15-18
Try as they might, there’s nothing Neuville or Tanak can do about Ogier’s march towards the title. A first-day puncture costs the Hyundai man dearly. He pushes as hard as he dares to make time up on Ogier, but mistakes creep in and he retires, knocking a wheel off on the penultimate stage. Tanak leads, but it’s not enough. He needs Ogier to hit trouble. Instead, he bounces his Yaris off the New South Wales scenery and leaves a five-time champion to make it a straight six. Latvala wins. 1 Jari-matti Latvala (Toyota Yaris) 2 Hayden Paddon (Hyundai i20) 3 Mads Ostberg (Citroen C3)