WRC 2016: Ogier returns to winner's circle at Rally Germany

Three-time defending WRC champion Sebastien Ogier scored his third win of the season at the end of Rally Germany, which was also his first victory since the second round of the year, over six months ago.

Having publicly vented his disdain for the WRC's start order regulations, that made the Frenchman the designated 'sweeper' at rallies and allowed his rivals to take advantage of better surface conditions, Ogier finally got some relief. The asphalt surface of the rally's stages also made the start order a lot less of a factor as he got to attack from pretty much start to finish.

The Volkswagen Polo WRC driver managed to top the overall classification by 20.3 from Dani Sordo in his Hyundai i20 WRC. Just 0.1 seconds behind Sordo was his Belgian teammate Thierry Neuville as the Korean manufacturer managed to get two cars on the podium while Haydon Paddon took fifth.

Andreas Mikkelsen was the next highest placed Polo WRC drivers after Ogier in fourth place while the erratic Jari-Matti Latvala finished 34th out of the 40 classified drivers in the rally.

The result allows Hyundai to further strengthen their second place in the manufacturer's championship and sees Ogier extend his advantage over Mikkelsen in the driver's championship, which was 45 prior to Rally Germany.

Only four more events remain in the WRC season as Rally China - that had been scheduled from September 9 to 11 - has been cancelled due to extreme damage to the stages on account of heavy rain.