Red Bull Motorsports
WRC
Thierry Neuville dominates Rally Argentina to cap Hyundai 1-2
Hyundai's Thierry Neuville wins Rally Argentina ahead of team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen with Citroën Sébastien Ogier claiming a last-gasp podium.
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Toyota’s Kris Meeke looked to be nailed on for a third-place finish, right up until the final minutes of Rally Argentina on the El Condór Power Stage.
Meeke was over a minute behind leader Neuville, and the Northern Irish driver had overcome a 10-second penalty imposed after he was judged to have deviated from the rally route during Saturday morning’s 11th stage.
But it was reigning WRC winner Sébastien Ogier who ended up third and snatched the final podium place from Meeke by under two seconds on the final stage of the rally as the Toyota driver lost time to a puncture and Ogier pounced.
After a tough time in South America, which saw the Citroën driver make a costly error during the epic 20.9-mile (33.6km) Cuchilla Nevada stage on Saturday, hit a gatepost and damage his power steering, ending his hopes of challenging for the win, a last-gasp podium ensures a decent points haul for Ogier's bid for a seventh WRC crown.
Up until SS14 it looked as if Neuville wouldn't have it all his own way as Toyota’s Ott Tänak had managed to keep the Huyndai driver more than honest, holding station in second with a gap of around five seconds until disaster struck.
The Estonian was forced to retire following a technical issue with his Yaris WRC machine, effectively giving Neuville a free pass to go on and dominate the rally with just five stages remaining.
Tänak and Toyota’s misfortune, following on from a subdued sixth place last time out in Corsica, was compounded when Esapekka Lappi crashed heavily on Friday’s final stage, rolled his Yaris and damaged the rollcage continuing his poor 2019 campaign.
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