Andreas Mikkelsen will return to frontline WRC action with Citroen total Abu Dhabi world rally team at next month’s rally Italia Sardegna  between 8 and 11 June.

Speculation linked him with Toyota and Hyundai and last month he tested an i20 World Rally Car for the Korean manufacturer.

Mikkelsen’s arrival will strengthen a team which has disappointed this season. It trails at the foot of the manufacturers’ standings and although Kris Meeke won in Mexico, Craig Breen is best-placed in the drivers’ points in seventh.

Team principal Yves Matton acknowledged Mikkelsen would boost Citroën’s chances of a strong result.

“After the first six rounds of the season, it would appear the Citroen Total Abu Dhabi WRT’s results have fallen a little short of the targets set at the start of the year,” he said.

“Andreas has a fair amount of experience at this rally, which is not the case for us since the Abu Dhabi Total WRT didn’t compete in Sardinia last year.

“Given his limited preparation, Andreas won’t have a specific target for the rally. We’ll be just looking for him to drive at a pace that is consistent with how comfortable he feels in the car.”

Matton insisted the move to drop Lefebvre was not a scrapping of Citroen’s youth policy.

“This is not a sanction of any kind, nor does it call into question our investment in the young drivers. The decision is merely intended to maximise Citroën’s chances. Stéphane accepted that it was necessary to put the team first in this case,” he added.

He will drive a C3 at the Italian gravel fixture, his first competitive outing in a 2017 World Rally Car. The Norwegian will replace Stephane Lefebvre, who will return at the following round in Poland.

Mikkelsen will have a day’s test before the rally and said he was delighted to join the French squad.

“It’s an open secret that I have been looking for a solution to keep competing in the top category of the WRC since the end of the 2016 season,” he said.

“I can’t wait to get my bearings in testing and then start working on preparing for the rally. I’ll no doubt be short of running time in the car at the start, but the main thing for me is to be back racing in the leading category in a strong team.”

Rumours of a deal surfaced over the weekend at Vodafone Rally de Portugal, although it was only sealed after Sunday’s finish. Although Citroën has announced just one event, it is believed a longer-term agreement could be confirmed shortly.

Mikkelsen has been without a full-time drive since Volkswagen Motorsport’s decision to step back from the WRC last year. Although he finished third in the 2016 points and won the final round at Kennards Hire Rally Australia, he missed out on a topline seat for 2017.

He has kept match fit by driving a Skoda Fabia R5 in WRC 2. He won in Monte-Carlo and Corsica and was on course for a treble in Portugal before crashing out of the lead in the final Fafe Power Stage. He had been entered in the Fabia for Sardinia.

Sebastien Ogier remains in the lead of Rally Portugal following the final three stages on Saturday.

The Frenchman entered the final loop of the day – a repeat of the morning’s stages – 19.5s ahead of Hyundai Motorsport’s Thierry Neuville.

While the Belgian would take two out of three stage wins to reduce the margin to 16.8s, Ogier took the other stage victory, managed his tyres and kept his Ford Fiesta WRC clean to take the advantage going into the final day.

After losing 6.2s to Neuville in the 37.55 kilometre Amarante 2 (SS15), Ogier remained pleased with his afternoon’s work.

“Not bad, I am happy with that on this one,” said the defending World Champion. “I didn’t push hard because it was a bit rough at the end.”

“Thierry has a good run… I managed my tyres a bit too much – too cautious maybe. Now we have to finish the job tomorrow.”

While Ogier looked in command, Neuville showed he was not content to simply accept second place.

“An okay stage for me, with hards at the front and softs at the rear,” said the i20 Coupe WRC pilot after finishing the day’s action. “Can I win this rally? It will be difficult…”

Behind the battle at the front, the second Hyundai of Sordo had a steady and untroubled day – until the final stage when he suffered damage to his rear wheel and lost 22.0s to his team mate Neuville.

“I don’t know what happened – I promise you I didn’t hit anything,” said the Spaniard. “We are lucky to arrive here at the stage end.”

Behind the top three, overnight leader Ott Tanak recovered from his difficult morning – where he hit a bank and broke his Ford Fiesta WRC’s suspension – to overtake Craig Breen for fourth overall. The Irishman making “a mistake” with his tyre choice, destroying the rears on his Citroën C3 WRC, and spinning on the long SS15.

Dominant overnight leader in WRC2, Skoda Motorsport’s Andreas Mikkelsen didn’t have everything his own way today, with Teemu Suninen winning four out of the six stages as Mikkelsen remained safe at the front.

The Norwegian still entered SS15 with a 1m09.3s lead over the Ford Fiesta R5 driver, who was busy holding off the other Skoda of Pontus Tidemand. That gap would grow substantially in the day’s final stage as, first, Tidemand stopped with a puncture, then Suninen also suffered a puncture. The Swede would ultimately lose less time, taking second place by 19.1s – though he now sits a full 3m07.1s behind Mikkelsen.

Jakub Brzezinski arrived into the midday service with a massive ten-plus minute lead in the WRC3 Championship. However, he would fail to complete the first stage of the afternoon loop, allowing Citroën driver Francisco Name to take the lead over Rally 2 driver Nil Solans in a Fiesta.

Crews will complete Rally Portugal tomorrow with four stages comprising roughly 43 kilometres.

END OF DAY – AFTER SS15:

1. Sébastien OGIER                Ford Fiesta WRC                            3:15:24.6
2. Thierry NEUVILLE               Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC                +16.8
3. Dani SORDO                      Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC                +51.3
4. Ott TANAK                        Ford Fiesta WRC                             +1:29.6
5. Craig BREEN                      Citroën C3 WRC                             +1:32.4

Defending FIA World Rally Champion Sebastien Ogier has won Rally Portugal, strengthening his grip on the first season of the new era of the sport.

The M-Sport Ford driver entered the final four stages today 16.8s ahead of Hyundai Motorsport’s Thierry Neuville. He would go on to win one more stage (SS17), before setting the fifth fastest time on the Power Stage to deliver his second victory for his new team, after taking out Rallye Monte-Carlo at the start of the season.

It was a comfortable final day for the Frenchman, who tied Markku Alén for most victories in Rally Portugal with five in the event’s 50^th running.

He now leads the 2017 championship by 22 points over Neuville.

“It feels great for sure,” said the three-time champion. “It’s fantastic to be back on the top of the podium again.

“Thanks to the team – the new car was perfect… Amazing! A new car in Monte and we won – a new car here too!”

For Thierry Neuville, second place continued to show him as a force to be reckoned with in the championship. The Belgian closed on Ogier marginally on the final loop of the rally, but had too much work to do, eventually coming home comfortably ahead of his Hyundai team mate Dani Sordo.

“A good stage for me, I tried my best but it wasn’t enough. Ott was faster,” said Neuville after being pipped by Tanak for the Power Stage win by 0.4s.

“I struggled this weekend with the rear of the car. The Fiestas were quicker – we couldn’t catch them.”

In contrast to the first day of the rally, Sunday saw comparatively little change among the WRC crews, Dani Sordo finishing third ahead of Friday’s overnight leader Ott Tanak’s Ford Fiesta WRC. Citroën’s Craig Breen completed the top five with a solid performance ahead of Elfyn Evans, sixth in the third Fiesta and another one ruing something of a missed opportunity.

The only change among the top ten overall runners saw impressive WRC rookie Esapekka Lappi charge home to claim the final point, setting a series of eye-catching stage times in his Toyota Yaris WRC – including fourth in the Power Stage, just 0.2s behind Evans in third.

The Finn combined flashes of immense speed with some rookie mistakes over the course of the rally, but certainly showed something special for the future.

The other notable driver on the final day was New Zealand’s Hayden Paddon, who took two stage wins to give him a total of four for the event. It was a case of ‘what might have been’ for the Hyundai Motorsport driver, who showed excellent pace in between the electrical and power steering problems that cruelled his rally.

The drama of the day, however, was in WRC2 as Skoda Motorsport’s Andreas Mikkelsen started Sunday three minutes ahead of team mate Pontus Tidemand and Ford driver Teemu Suninen after dominating the class all event (both Tidemand and Suninen also suffered punctures in the final stage on Saturday).

The Norwegian entered the last stage, still with over three minutes in hand – until he sensationally rolled the Fabia R5 one kilometre in, gifting the win to Tidemand with Suninen closing on the Swede by almost 15 seconds in the last stage to ultimately fall 11.2s short. Simone Tempestini was third in the Citroën DS3 R5.

On the day’s first stage, Quentin Gilbert, who would have been in line to complete the WRC2 podium after the Mikkelsen incident, ended his rally in spectacular fashion at the famous Fafe jump. The French former WRC3 champion landed heavily on the nose of his Skoda Fabia R5, before flipping and coming to rest across the road. Both driver and co-driver were unhurt, however the stage was interrupted for all remaining drivers.

In WRC3, Mexican Francisco Name (Citroën DS3 R3T) prevailed over Spain’s Nil Solans (Ford Fiesta R2) and Italy’s Enrico Brazzoli (Peugeot 208 R2).

RALLY PORTUGAL – OVERALL FINAL STANDINGS:

Following the first three stages of Saturday, World Champion Sébastien Ogier has powered into the lead of Rally Portugal after overnight leader and M-Sport Ford team mate Ott Tanak touched a bank and broke his left rear suspension in the 37.55 kilometre Amarante stage (SS12).

The day started in promising fashion, with Ogier and Tanak trading stage wins on SS10 and SS11, the Frenchman closing in to just 1.1s behind after the day’s first stage, before the Estonian pulled out an impressive 5.2s on the 22.3 kilometre Cabeceiras de Basto stage.

Tanak would set two fastest split times in SS12 before his incident, losing more than 1m20s to Ogier – who would go on to win the stage – crawling in to the midday service in fifth place overall, 1m16.8s behind the leader.

Thierry Neuville arrived to the service as the new leading Hyundai Motorsport driver. Starting the day in fourth place 11.1s off the lead, the Belgian was never out of the top three stage times in the morning stages. He would overtake his team mate Dani Sordo – who started the day in second place – and is now Ogier’s closest challenger (+19.5s).

Sordo is now third, 25.0s off the lead, with Irishman Craig Breen continuing his strong rally in fourth, the Citroën C3 WRC driver 21.2s off third place.

The third Ford Fiesta WRC of Elfyn Evans struck problems, with a puncture on SS11 costing the Welshman 1m25s and dropping him from his overnight position of fifth to seventh.

A solid set of morning stages has seen Juho Hännninen emerge as the lead Toyota Yaris WRC driver, sitting in sixth place and 1m39.5s off the lead.

Andreas Mikkelsen continues to lead the WRC2 class comfortably, 1m09.8s ahead of Teemu Suninen. However, the Norwegian has not had it all his own way this morning, with Ford driver Suninen taking two of the three stage wins – the first stages not won by the Skoda driver.

Jakub Brzezinski continues to lead the WRC3 championship – by more than ten minutes – in his Citroën DS3 R3T, though Spain’s Nil Solans managed two stage wins this morning in a Ford Fiesta R2.

Crews will make a second loop of the morning’s three stages to complete Saturday running this afternoon.

Leading Positions After SS12:

1. Sébastien OGIER               Ford Fiesta WRC                            2:26:29.2
2. Thierry NEUVILLE               Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC                +19.5
3. Dani SORDO                      Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC                +25.0
4. Craig BREEN                      Citroën C3 WRC                            +46.2
5. Ott TANAK                          Ford Fiesta WRC                          +1:16.8