MOTORSPORT: WRC buzzing in Coffs Harbour

The title may have been decided, but the final round of the 2016 World Rally Championship at Coffs Harbor (NSW) is set to provide a dramatic finish to the year. Volkswagen will compete in its last rally, while Hyundai drivers Thierry Neuville and Hayden Paddon are set to battle for places on the podium for WRC drivers’ title.

Today’s opening stages provided a glimpse of the drama expected across the weekend. Drivers will face hot conditions and loose gravel surfaces that are sure to make current champion and Volkswagen driver Sebastian Ogier struggle to set the fastest stage times.

Following current drivers’ championship standings order, Ogier has led today’s stages followed by second placed Neuville, and the loose road surface, exacerbated by warm weather and a lack of rain recently, has made going tough for the opening drivers.

Ogier’s teammate Andreas Mikkelsen proved fastest on most of the early stages Friday morning and goes into the evening’s Super Special Stage event at Coffs Harbour Jetty in first place, followed by teammate Ogier (+16.9sec) and Hyundai Motorsport’s Neuville (+21.5sec), who set faster times later in the day driving on stages they had swept earlier.

Kiwi Paddon currently sits in fourth (+22.2sec), after Hyundai teammate Dani Sordo was penalised 20 seconds for arriving three minutes late to stage start after taking a wrong turn on a transport section.

It was obvious that the lead cars were off the pace, however, later in the day as some stages were re-run Ogier’s pace imporved and his driving became more aggressive as he found grip on the swept stages.

Ogier’s 247 points for the season to date has seen him easily win the drivers championship, however second place is still up for grabs and will be fiercely fought by Neuville (143 points), Mikkelsen (129 points) and Paddon (126 points).

The fight for the podium also presents the last time we will see the current generation Volkswagen and Hyundai rally cars fight against each other.

With VW’s exit from the title in 2017, all three Volkswagen drivers are not contracted -- although Ogier has confirmed he we will be returning to Europe on Monday to test drive for two manufactures (most probably M-Sport (Ford) and the new and unseen Toyota World Rally Team).

Teammates Mikkelsen and Jari-Matti Latvala have not confirmed any intention to meet with other manufacters, yet, and so Coffs Harbour may present the last chance the driver’s have to impress. Alas Latvala’s start was frustrating after suffering a blow to the rear left suspension when he hit a bridge early in the day.