By: FIA October 28, 2018 10:56 AM With 14 FIA World Rally Championship titles between them, a final stage showdown between Sebastien Loeb and Sebastien Ogier (pictured above, left to right) was set to be sensational and delivered drama to the last few feet of Rally Spain. Ultimately, nine-time champion Loeb held off Ogier — winner of the last five titles since Loeb ended his full-time participation — over the closing Power Stage to take an incredible 2.9-second win on the penultimate round of the championship.Nearly six years after standing on the top step of a WRC podium, the French/Monegasque pairing of Loeb and co-driver Daniel Elena powered into the lead on the first stage of the final day to notch up their 79th win and ninth on Spain’s round of the series. Elfyn Evans snatched third position from title contender Thierry Neuville in the last stage.Like so many recent events, Rally Spain delivered yet more unpredictable and emotional competition, now ensuring the fight for this year’s world title goes down to the final round in Australia. Second position was enough for Ogier to inch ahead of Neuville in the standings, the rivals now split by three points. After yet another heart-breaking event, Ott Tanak retains his third position and still has an outside, but mathematical chance of taking a maiden title. In the Manufacturers’ Championship, Hyundai has regained ground on Toyota and the two makes are split by 12 points with everything to play for Down Under.Going into the final two stages this afternoon, Loeb held the advantage after an inspired morning tire choice allowed him to power into the lead. He dropped some time with a spin in the first stage this afternoon leaving him and Ogier going into the deciding Power Stage just 3.6 seconds apart. A tooth-and-nail fight to the finish ultimately saw Loeb cross the finish line with a 2.9-second advantage, underlining his status as the sport’s all-time greatest.Despite missing out on the win, Ogier was happy to have achieved his goal of finishing ahead of Neuville and retaking the lead in the championship for the first time since Rally Argentina in April. Evans was fourth going into the Power Stage, two seconds adrift of Neuville, but when the Belgian clipped a stone and broke a wheel the Welshman moved into third by a mere half a second, also aiding Ogier’s championship hopes as Neuville dropped to fourth.Dani Sordo finished fifth, admitting the rally had been complicated by the weather, and Tanak ultimately took sixth having passed teammates Esapekka Lappi and Jari-Matti Latvala for additional championship points. Latvala dropped from a possible win to sixth in the first of the repeated stages after clipping a barrier and puncturing; he ultimately finished eighth. Tanak took the Power Stage win and five points, helping him retain a slim chance in the title fight. Craig Breen finished a demoralizing ninth with Andreas Mikkelsen and Teemu Suninen 10th and 11th respectively.Kalle Rovanpera racked up his third FIA WRC 2 Championship win, the 18-year-old Finn fighting hard with teammate and provisional category champion Jan Kopecky. The Skoda pair finished 8.5 seconds apart with Petter Solberg taking third on the debut competitive outing of the Volkswagen Polo GTi R5. Enrico Brazzoli romped to victory in the WRC 3 Championship, his win enough to provisionally seal the title after beating Taisko Lario.The final round of the 2018 FIA World Rally Championship — Rally Australia (November 15-1 — will now the scene for the ultimate showdown. Both the Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ titles will be decided on the gravel roads around Coffs Harbour.

By: FIA October 27, 2018 10:41 AM During an afternoon where tire choice and weather conditions played their part, Jari-Matti Latvala made his way to the top of the Rally Spain leaderboard, the Finn overhauling Dani Sordo for what could be his first win in the FIA World Rally Championship since Sweden last year. Meanwhile, title contender Sebastien Ogier has moved into second, 3.3 seconds ahead of third-placed Sebastien Loeb as no fewer than six drivers battle for honors in Spain.Latvala went into the afternoon loop of stages trailing Sordo by a mere three-tenths of a second, but the Finn instantly laid down his intention by jumping into the lead by nearly four seconds. He marginally extended his advantage over the following two stages before heading to the short Salou street stage and ultimately coming back for the overnight halt with a 4.7-second lead going into Sunday’s closing four stages.Tires played their part, particularly in the final long stage when rain started to fall for some of the later contenders, which is what ultimately shuffled the pack. Ogier, on full wets, was getting used to the tires for the first time in the opener and even though he ran in the dry all afternoon, the Frenchman moved from fifth to second in the middle long stage as others dropped time.Loeb had a tricky first stage with a couple of mistakes but he too benefited as others flailed and the nine-time FIA World Rally champion climbed from fourth to third over the course of the afternoon, a stage win aiding his challenge.Elfyn Evans managed to extend his advantage over Loeb in the first of the four stages but then slipped back to fourth overnight. He is however only 9.8 seconds off the lead and has championship contender Thierry Neuville closing in. The Belgian is also within striking distance of the lead after two fastest times this afternoon and he will be focused on closing the gap to Ogier tomorrow to keep the championship fight as tight as possible.

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Having led going into the afternoon, Sordo dropped to sixth in the final long stage, a combination of weather conditions and muddy roads hampering his assault. He too is still only 16.5 seconds off the lead.Esapekka Lappi was lucky to escape a high-speed spin that took him broadside down the last stage; the young Finn is seventh after a stall in the street stage, with Ott Tanak eighth. Despite trying to move back up the leaderboard, the Estonian’s position meant the roads were getting steadily dirtier with the passage of cars and this coupled with a spin to hinder his efforts to get his title assault back on track. He did however win the Salou stage. Craig Breen had a 360-degree spin in the second stage, a stall in the final stage and is ninth with Andreas Mikkelsen and Teemu Suninen 10th and 11th respectively.Kalle Rovanpera continues to head the FIA WRC 2 Championship, the 18-year-old Finn fighting with Jan Kopecky and Nil Solans who shared this afternoon’s stage wins. Enrico Brazzoli is looking good for the WRC 3 category victory, the Italian well ahead of Taisko Lario and Louise Cook.