Hyundai’s Thiery Neuville won Rally Spain but Toyota’s Ott Tanak is crowned the 2019 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) champion with a second place finish.
It was a close fight in WRC Rally Spain with Hyundai heading a 1-2-3 on the opening day on Friday. Neuville (co-driver Nicolas Gilsoul) led the way initially before teammate Dani Sordo (co-driver Carlos del Barrio) took over from the Belgian.
The last laugh, though, was from Sebastien Loeb (co-driver Daniel Elena) as the Frenchman ended the day on top from Neuville and Sordo. Loeb won SS3, SS5 and SS6, while Neville took SS2 and Sordo had SS4 to his name.
Citroen’s Sebastien Ogier (co-driver Julien Ingrassia) started with a win in SS1 but a hydraulic pipe issue hampered his run, leaving him only 17th in the order. WRC points leader Toyota’s Tanak (co-driver Martin Jarveoja) was fifth.
It ended up being a disappointing day for Citroen with Esapekka Lappi (co-driver Janne Ferm) retiring due to engine troubles. Neuville started Saturday with a strong performance as he took the lead from Loeb in the first stage itself.
The Belgian was consistent and strong all day with wins in SS7, SS8 and SS13 to end the day on top by nearly 22 seconds from Sordo as Tanak’s fighting run helped him to jump to third in the final stage to end a consecutive 1-2-3 for Hyundai.
Tanak won SS9, SS10, SS11 and SS12 aboard his Toyota Yaris and ate into Neuville’s lead. Ogier, meanwhile, made a sound comeback as well in his Citroen C3 to be eighth overall and into the points scoring position – making up nine places.
Teammate Lappi couldn’t start the day with the issue being terminal as Toyota’s constructors’ hopes was hit after crash for Kris Meeke (co-driver Sebastian Marshall). It was to take a steady run for Neuville on the final day on Sunday.
He started off by winning SS13 and SS14 but took a cautious approach with Sordo winning SS15 and SS16. He eventually secured Rally Spain victory, his third win in the 2019 WRC season as he jumped to second in the overall standings with 227 points.
Toyota’s Tanak broke the Hyundai 1-2 chain to be second and with the Power Stage win, the Estonian sealed the 2019 WRC title with a round to spare with 263 points in his kitty. He not only took his first WRC title, but also ended Ogier’s six seasons reign.
He also ended the ‘Sebastien’ title win streak which is on since the 2004 season, when Loeb secured his first championship. Tanak’s second place pushed Sordo to third in the Rally Spain order, with the Spaniard only 0.4s behind.
Hyundai’s Loeb ended his 2019 WRC season in fourth in Rally Spain, with Toyota’s Jari-Matti Latvala (co-driver Miikka Anttila) in fifth ahead of the two M-Sport Ford Fiesta drivers Elfyn Evans (co-driver Scott Martin) and Teemu Suninen (co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen).
Citroen’s Ogier was only eighth as he dropped behind Neuville in the WRC drivers’ standings. He was also the last WRC driver in the points as Toyota’s Meeke finished way down the order.
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