Neuville seals Argentina win with Hyundai 1-2

Though there were only three stages on Sunday, Rally Argentina’s final leg was a very tough one, with two passes of the legendary El Cóndor and a run through Mina Clavero.

In total, there were 53.16 kilometres of competitive stages under stunning – a welcome change to the heavy rain and muddy conditions that had featured on Friday.

Neuville had little to worry about at the front, holding a lead of 45.7s over team-mate Mikkelsen into Sunday. Though he was only seventh-fastest on the first pass of El Cóndor, he claimed the stage win in Mina Clavero and snatched three bonus points for scoring the third-quickest run on the Power Stage, El Cóndor’s second pass. Mikkelsen wasn’t under threat in second place either, as various issues affected several of their rivals in the previous days of competition.

Affected by a 10 second penalty on Saturday night for failing to follow the road book itinerary, a fired-up Meeke launched a charge after third-placed Ogier on Sunday morning, taking the final podium spot back after Mina Clavero. But the Toyota driver picked up a slow front left puncture that cost him 6.6s. This gave third place back to Ogier, who turned in a brilliant Power Stage run to take maximum bonus points.

Jari-Matti Latvala also made his way up the order in his Toyota Yaris, getting ahead of Dani Sordo by 0.7s after Mina Clavero and then going second-fastest on the El Cóndor Power Stage to secure fifth place and four bonus points.

Sordo had briefly been in the podium contention but falling back since Saturday afternoon to finish in sixth, 5.6s behind Latvala. But the Spaniard still scored two bonus points for going fourth-fastest on the Power Stage.

M-Sport endured a difficult rally, with Teemu Suninen in seventh overall being the sole remaining driver after the retirement of his team-mate Elfyn Evans following a crash on Saturday.

Tänak rescued five points after his Saturday retirement, four by beating FIA WRC 2 Pro winner Mads Østberg for eighth place on the El Cóndor Power Stage, and an extra bonus point by going fifth-fastest on this final stage.

Mads Østberg claimed a FIA WRC 2 Pro victory for Citroën made easier by his rivals running into trouble, with M-Sport’s Gus Greensmith facing front-left suspension issues on Friday and Marco Bulacia Wilkinson dramatically rolling his Škoda Fabia R5 on Saturday and unable to restart on Sunday.

Behind Østberg in ninth, Pedro Heller wrapped up his first FIA WRC 2 win but suffered a moment of panic when his Ford Fiesta R5 broke down less than a kilometre from the finish of the El Cóndor Power Stage. Helped by the sepctators, he was able to restart his car and cruise to the finish line, securing 10th place overall and his class win. Benito Guerra and Paulo Nobre completed the FIA WRC 2 podium.