The M-Sport World Rally Team made history today by scooping two FIA World Rally Championship titles and the overall rally victory to claim a hat-trick celebration at the end of Wales Rally GB.

Elfyn Evans and Daniel Barritt became the first Britons to win Rally GB since Richard Burns in 2000, and Evans is the first Welshman to win the event in its WRC history.

Team-mates Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia also claimed an impressive fifth world title by just one tenth of a second in the Fiesta WRC for M-Sport, the team also clinching the FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers ahead of three of the world’s largest car manufacturers.

The 2017 FIA World Rally Championship season has seen some of the closest competition in years. With the debut of the new world rally cars, a new manufacturer entering and drivers swapping teams, no fewer than seven different winners have stood on the top step of the podium over 12 events.

Remarkably, Evans also joins Ott Tänak and Esapekka Lappi as one of three rookie WRC winners over the course of the campaign. For M-Sport, its title victory has come from having at least one car on the podium on every event so far this season and the British-based team has made history by winning its first manufacturers’ title - notwithstanding victories with Ford in 2006 and 2007 - and first-ever  drivers’ crown.

Evans had a comfortable advantage going into the closing five stages and 41.17 competitive kilometres, but on Rally GB nothing is taken for granted over the fast, wet and muddy Welsh forestry stages.

The Welshman pushed on, maintaining his weekend-long dominant performance to claim a maiden WRC victory on home soil and become only the fourth British driver - alongside Roger Clark, Colin McRae and Richard Burns - to win their home round of the Championship.

Behind Evans and his 37.3-second winning margin, the fight for second and the Championship title was one of the closest and most intense of the season, with second to fifth positions split by just 12.9 seconds.

Thierry Neuville managed to overhaul Ogier in the day’s opener, keeping his title bid alive in second position but also looking behind at the battle for fourth between Jari-Matti Latvala and team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen, who had the potential to help his bid for a maiden title.

While both were closing on third-placed Ogier, the pair ran out of kilometres to pass the Frenchman and potentially influence the outcome. Ogier’s third position, coupled with two points in the closing Power Stage, was enough to stop the fight going to the final round in Australia.

Astoundingly, he and co-driver Julien Ingrassia won their fifth FIA World Rally Championship titles by just one tenth of second with fourth position in the Power Stage. 

Mikkelsen managed to overhaul Latvala in the penultimate stage when the Finnish Toyota driver struggled for grip, but the pair continued their battle to the finish line and ended the rally split by only five-tenths of a second.

Having dropped down the order in the fog last night, Ott Tänak finished sixth and Britain’s Kris Meeke was seventh, a further 18.2 seconds adrift, the Ulsterman enjoying a good run in the C3 WRC. Hayden Paddon, Esapekka Lappi and Dani Sordo rounded off the top 10.

In the FIA WRC 2 Championship category, Pontus Tidemand provisionally wrapped up the title in Germany earlier in the season. He took another win - his fifth of the season - and finished nearly two minutes ahead of France’s Eric Camilli. WRC 3 was won by runaway leader Raphaël Astier. 

The FIA World Rally Championship draws to its close in three weeks’ time as the contenders head down under for Rally Australia (16-19 November). 

Wales Rally GB – Final Unofficial Results (subject to scrutineering)

Elfyn Evans has driven supremely over Saturday’s first group of stages on Wales Rally GB, the Welshman claiming five stage wins from seven tests run to the southwest of the rally base in Deeside.

He now has an impressive 46.3 second advantage over Thierry Neuville, the Belgian catapulting himself from fourth to second and, importantly, ahead of Championship rivals Ott Tänak and Sébastien Ogier who hold third and fourth respectively.

Today’s route is marathon and takes in nine stages and 142.38 competitive kilometres with the crews out on the road for over 16 hours. Evans has been totally in the sweet spot in his Fiesta WRC and immediately set about extending his overnight advantage of nearly 25 seconds first thing this morning.

The Welshman won five consecutive stages to double his advantage before missing out on a clean sweep of victories when Neuville clocked the fastest time in SS13 as Evans struggled for grip. After making some overnight changes to the centre differential, Neuville has felt more comfortable and started to reel in Ogier and then Tänak.

He overhauled the reigning World Champion after three stages and then snatched second position from Tänak in the following one as both M-Sport drivers struggled to match the pace. Determined to continue fighting for a maiden world title, Neuville needs to keep ahead of his rivals - at minimum - despite being aware the Championship permutations are currently swinging in Ogier’s favour.

Neuville also won the last spectator stage in the group before heading back to service. Ogier, and team-mate Tänak, are both bemused by a lack of speed and having to fight hard as the battle for second position plays out between a handful of drivers. 

Behind the top four, Andreas Mikkelsen is enjoying a perfect set-up on his i20 Coupe WRC today and the Norwegian has moved from seventh to fifth and is also potentially in the fight for second, as is sixth-placed Jari-Matti Latvala.

The rivals have been dicing hard but Mikkelsen overhauled the Finn after the third stage and takes an 8.2 second advantage into the last two night stages. Kris Meeke climbed into fifth after the first stage but then lost two positions when he clipped a straw bail in SS11 and lost 10 seconds.

He is seventh with a comfortable advantage over Hayden Paddon. The Kiwi driver and team-mate Dani Sordo are eighth and ninth, and after Toyota’s Juho Hänninen broke the suspension in SS14, team-mate Esapekka Lappi has moved into 10th.

The FIA WRC 2 Championship continues to be led convincingly by Pontus Tidemand in a Škoda R5. The Swede has nearly a minute in hand to Tom Cave after winning five of the seven stages. Raphaël Astier tops the two-wheel drive WRC 3 category.

Elfyn Evans has continued his supreme drive this evening and has extended his advantage at the head of the Wales Rally GB leaderboard after the last two tricky night stages

. The Welshman has 53.1 seconds in hand, now over Sébastien Ogier despite the Frenchman going off the road in the first stage and collecting damage. Thierry Neuville has dropped to third a mere half a second adrift of Ogier while Ott Tänak fared the worst in the dark and has plummeted to a disappointing sixth.

The longest day of the rally was rounded off with two night stages in the Welsh forests but conditions were incredibly tricky as fog descended and seriously reduced visibility for some of the crews. This is where the leaderboard was turned on its head behind Evans.

Jari-Matti Latvala was the fastest through the fog-shrouded first stage but Evans was able to extend his lead by another 3.5 seconds with his chasing rivals largely dropping chunks of time.

The flying Welshman was back on top in the final stage of the night, taking the win and another handful of seconds to head into the closing 42 kilometres of competition on Sunday with a commanding lead. Neuville, second going into the two stages, lost his hard-fought position in this stage and dropped to third, three seconds adrift of Ogier, but managed to claw back some of that time in the closing stage with second fastest time.

Ogier may have moved from fourth to second in the first stage, but the Frenchman was lucky to escape reasonably unscathed after going off the road. He broke a wheel, got a puncture and shattered a brake disc, forcing him to make vital repairs on the road section.

As a consequence he wasn’t able to push hard in the final stage but will be relieved to be back ahead of Neuville, albeit by such a slim margin. 

Latvala’s charge through SS15 rewarded him with fourth position and he managed to pull out an advantage over Andreas Mikkelsen, the rivals split by 5.9 seconds tonight. Mikkelsen was frustrated his bonnet lights were too high in the foggy first stage, adjusted them and was then even more frustrated to find them too low in the second where there was no fog.

Nevertheless, the duo are both still in the fight for the podium with Ott Tänak only 2.5 seconds further adrift in sixth. The Estonian’s third position rapidly changed in the fog but he too can still fight for the podium.

Kris Meeke found the first stage ‘hellishly tricky’ and then didn’t have a great run through the second after hesitating so much in the first one.

He maintained seventh this evening however and is nearly 40 seconds ahead of Hayden Paddon. Esapekka Lappi admitted to being slow in the fog but the Finn is now ninth having overhauled Dani Sordo who dropped to 10th.

Pontus Tidemand continues to top the FIA WRC 2 Championship leaderboard and the Swede has nearly two minutes in hand to Tom Cave. Raphaël Astier also has a runaway advantage in WRC 3, over six minutes in front of Enrico Brazzoli.

Wales Rally GB – Provisional results after Section 6
 

Elfyn Evans has extended his advantage after the afternoon loop of stages on Wales Rally GB and has 24.6 seconds in hand in his DMACK-shod Fiesta WRC.

The Welshman tops an impressive one-two-three for M-Sport with team-mates Ott Tänak and Sébastien Ogier second and third, the pair split by just 2.2 seconds after 120 kilometres of competition.

Evans carried this morning’s momentum through the repeated stages and again won the opener, more than doubling his advantage over Tänak who was nearly nine seconds slower than the Welshman.

While the Fiesta driver had to concede victories on the following two stages, he has shone on home soil throughout the day on muddy stages that have suited his tyre package. Tänak has dropped time to Ogier this afternoon, the Estonian frustrated with the brake balance on his Fiesta but managing to keep ahead of his team-mate and Championship rival as the crews head into the toughest day of the rally tomorrow.

Ogier claimed victory in the second stage, his first of the day, after a better run through the afternoon stages. 

Thierry Neuville has climbed the order from seventh to fourth thanks to a final stage win; he is 10.3 seconds adrift of Ogier and will doubtless be ruing last night’s 10 second penalty. Jari-Matti Latvala heads the Toyota challenge in fifth with Ulsterman Kris Meeke a mere one-tenth of a second behind.

Latvala felt the car was better this afternoon but struggled for traction in the final stage, while Meeke has been pleased with his performance, especially considering his road position. Andreas Mikkelsen is a further 10 seconds adrift after an uneventful day and his two team-mates Dani Sordo and Hayden Paddon are further back in eighth and ninth.

Juho Hänninen continues to hold 10th, the Finn just not at one with the event, the same as his team-mate Esapekka Lappi. After picking up a puncture and dropping time this morning, Craig Breen’s rally got worse when he slipped into a ditch and was forced out for the day.

The FIA WRC 2 Championship is in the control of provisional champion Pontus Tidemand. The Swede has nearly 45 seconds in hand to Frenchman Eric Camilli with Tom Cave holding third. Raphaël Astier continues to lead WRC 3, ahead of the only other competitor in the category, Enrico Brazzoli.

Leading times: