Toyota’s Tänak secures second straight success

Ott Tänak (Toyota/Michelin) bounced back from his recent victory in Finland to win the 2018 ADAC Rallye Deutschland, ahead of Thierry Neuville (Hyundai/Michelin) and Esapekka Lappi (Toyota/Michelin). Sébastien Ogier (Ford/Michelin) was fourth.

Four months after France’s Tour de Corse, the 2018 FIA World Rally Championship returned to sealed-surface action last weekend with Rallye Deutschland, a uniquely challenging fixture that features three distinct types of stages, from the lanes that crisscross the Mosel Valley vineyards to the abrasive, part-concrete/part-asphalt roads of the Baumholder army ranges and, finally, the wooded, hilly Saarland region.

The extreme conditions, which count amongst the most aggressive of the season, were compounded by the weekend’s hot weather which saw ground temperatures soar to as high as 40°C. The Michelin Pilot Sport H5 rose to the occasion, however, to complete the 39 kilometres of the notorious Panzerplatte test with perfectly acceptable wear rates and, in most cases, no air pressure losses despite some crews reporting rim damage.

Last year’s Rallye Deutschland victor Ott Tänak steered his Toyota Yaris WRC/Michelin to an early lead on Day 1 thanks to a score of five stage wins from six. He was joined on the overnight podium by 2018 Drivers’ title challengers Ogier and Neuville who were chased in turn by a pack that comprised Elfyn Evans, Jari-Matti Latvala, Dani Sordo and Lappi.

Saturday’s action saw the Estonian go further clear following woes for Ogier (wheel change on ‘Panzerplatte’) who fell to ninth after losing 1m40s.

The Frenchman fought back to recover fourth at the finish after podium challengers Latvala (Toyota/Michelin, transmission) and Sordo (Hyundai/Michelin, off) both suffered on Sunday morning’s SS14. Their troubles promoted Neuville and Lappi to second and third places on Sunday afternoon.

Teemu Suninen celebrated his first asphalt outing in a WRC car with fifth place.

Welshman Evans (Ford/Michelin) and Citroën/Michelin’s Craig Breen and Mads Ostberg were all caught out by the tricky German stages.

There was an interesting battle for WRC2 honours, too. Eric Camilli (Ford/Michelin) retired from the class lead with an alternator problem on Saturday afternoon, leaving Kalle Rovanpera (Skoda/Michelin), Fabio Andolfi (Skoda), Jan Kopecky (Skoda/Michelin) and Kajetan Kajetanowicz (Ford) blanketed by less than eight seconds. Skoda Motorsport’s Kopecky and Rovanpera ultimately gained the upper hand, though, to earn another one-two finish for Michelin.

WRC action will resume on September 13-16 when the championship returns to Turkey for the first time since 2006.