There was an incredible ending to the RallyRACC-Catalunya when world champion Ogier threw away a seemingly unassailable 50.9s lead on the final test. The split times indicated that he was fastest up to the mid-stage split but he then crashed into a guardrail.
Advertisement
Mikkelsen beat Volkswagen team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala by 3.1 seconds when Ogier smashed into a roadside barrier.
“It was absurd because Ogier never makes mistakes so when they told me I didn’t believe it”, Mikkelsen said.
Mikkelsen also won the final live TV Power Stage to claim three bonus points – Latvala took two points in second and Citroen’s Meeke took the final point in his DS 3.
Dani Sordo took his first podium finish since Germany a year ago in his Hyundai i20 WRC finishing 21.2 seconds behind the victor.
Prior to this last-minute surprise, he had been battling for second spot with Latvala and the VW/Michelin pair was split by just 1.4s going into the last stage.
Spain was a rally to forget for Malcolm Wilson’s M-Sport squad. After a disappointing run last time out at the Tour de Corse, Ott Tänak was showing great pace on day one, taking three stage wins.
Rally of Spain day two in 140 words coming your way.
With the Pole recently hinting that he’ll be doing “something different” in 2016, it seems Kubica himself is getting frustrated with his lack of progress in the sport.
Advertisement
The 26-year-old’s maiden victory comes in his 64th world rally having previously been on the podium 12 times. “The team called me to say Ogier had crashed”.
