WRC - Ogier/Ingrassia seal 7th title, Hyundai is Manufacturers Champions
ACI Rally Monza - Sunday afternoon
Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia won their seventh FIA World Rally Championship title in eight seasons with victory at ACI Rally Monza on Sunday afternoon.
Ogier started the final round facing a 14-point deficit to Toyota Yaris team-mate Elfyn Evans. They took the lead on Saturday morning, but Evans’ measured pace kept the Welshman on course for a maiden championship success.
But Evans’ dream ended when he crashed down a bank after being caught out by treacherous snow-covered mountain roads on Saturday.
Ogier eased through Sunday’s rain-soaked final leg at Monza’s Cathedral of Speed circuit to win by 13.9sec and take the crown by eight points. French drivers have claimed the title on 16 occasions in the last 17 years.
After a weekend characterised by never-ending rain at Monza and snow blanketing the roads in the Italian Alps, Ogier endured one final scare in the last kilometres of the closing Power Stage. The wipers on his Yaris briefly failed, leaving him with no visibility behind a muddy windscreen. The Frenchmen have now won the title with three different manufacturers.
Outgoing champion Ott Tänak finished second in a Hyundai i20, 1.4sec ahead of team-mate Dani Sordo.
The double podium was sufficient to secure back-to-back Manufacturers’ titles for Hyundai Motorsport by five points from Toyota Gazoo Racing.
Tänak and Sordo traded places throughout Sunday’s three-stage finale with the Estonian eventually sealing the runner-up spot in the closing test.
Early leader Esapekka Lappi finished fourth in a Ford Fiesta, matching his best result of the season. The Finn was 30.7sec behind Tänak and 21.6sec clear of Kalle Rovanperä’s Yaris. FIA WRC3 winner Andreas Mikkelsen completed the top six in a Škoda Fabia.
Oliver Solberg, FIA WRC3 World Champion Jari Huttunen, FIA WRC2 title winner Mads Østberg and Pontus Tidemand completed the leaderboard.
A disappointed Evans restarted this morning after his crash and finished 26th.
In the FIA Junior WRC Championship, Sweden's Tom Kristtenson claimed the ACI Rally Monza victory in front of Paraguay's Fabrizio Zaldivar and Great Britain's Rui Bell to confirm his place as the 2020 Junior WRC Champion.
2020 ACI Rally Monza - Final Unofficial results:
| 1. Sébastien Ogier (FRA) / Julien Ingrassia (FRA) | Toyota Yaris WRC | 2 hr 15min 51.0sec |
| 2. Ott Tänak (EST) / Martin Järveoja (EST) | Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC | 1 hr 16min 04.9sec |
| 3. Dani Sordo (ESP) / Carlos del Barrio (ESP) | Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC | 2 hr 16min 06.3sec |
| 4. Esapekka Lappi (FIN) / Janne Ferm (FIN) | Ford Fiesta WRC | 2 hr 16min 36.7sec |
| 5. Kalle Rovanperä (FIN) / Jonne Halttunen (FIN) | Toyota Yaris WRC | 2 hr 17min 02.1sec |
| 6. Andreas Mikkelsen (NOR) / Anders Jaeger (NOR) - WRC3 | Škoda Fabia Evo | 2 hr 19min 47.2sec |
| 7. Oliver Solberg (SWE) / Aaron Johnston (IRL) - WRC3 | Škoda Fabia Evo | 2 hr 20min 03.1sec |
| 8. Jari Huttunen (FIN) / Mikko Lukka (FIN) - WRC3 | Hyundai NG i20 | 2 hr 21min 06.4sec |
| 9. Mads Ostberg (NOR) / Torstein Eriksen (FIN) - WRC2 | Citroën C3 | 2 hr 21min 18.4sec |
| 10. Pontus Tidemand (SWE) / Patrick Barth (SWE) - WRC2 | Škoda Fabia Evo | 2 hr 21min 44.0sec |
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