Sebastien Ogier has won the Che Guevara Energy Drink Tour de Corse after 390 kilometres of special stages. At the end of the third leg the Frenchman saw the flag ahead of Thierry Neuville and Andreas Mikkelsen and is closing in on the world title.

After three days during which Sebastien Ogier’s mastery was equalled only by the powerlessness of his rivals, the Frenchman won the Che Guevara Energy Drink Tour de Corse. The former FFSA French Rally Team member emerged victorious in the place where he revealed his skills to the whole world when he clinched the Junior World Rally Championship title driving for the 2008 FFSA French Rally Team. Thanks to this victory the three-time world rally champion is closing in on his fourth title on the bounce as he now has a lead of 68 points with only a maximum of 84 points to be awarded between now and the end of the season.

Ogier’s direct rivals did all they could to scupper the plans of the Volkswagen driver throughout the 10th round of the 2016 World Rally Championship. The current runner-up in the overall world classification, Andreas Mikkelsen, showed great consistency, but was only able to pose a threat to his team-mate on rare occasions. The Norwegian finished on the third step of the podium and scored two points in the Power Stage. Thierry Neuville came home second behind the Frenchman consolidating his recent string of good performances. The future of the Belgian will be decided in the coming weeks, and he was one of the few drivers to win a stage in the Che Guevara Energy Drink Tour de Corse.

Besides the latter and the winner, the only other competitor to win one of the 10 stages in this rally was Brit Kris Meeke. The Abu Dhabi Total World Rally Team driver set three fastest times including two today, Sunday 2^nd October, but he paid the price of his offensive strategy with a minor off and finished well down the time sheets. Jari-Matti Latvala and Craig Breen were often among the front-runners although they failed to win any stages and they rounded off the top 5. Hayden Paddon confirmed the hopes placed in him by Hyundai Motorsport and finished sixth followed by his team-mate, Dani Sordo. Just behind, Éric Camilli ended his first Tour de Corse at the wheel of a WRC in 8^th place thanks to a consistent drive in front of his M-Sport team-mate, Mads Ostberg. Finally Ott Tanak completed the Top 10.

Elfyn Evans won in WRC2 in front of Jan Kopecky while Yoann Bonato finished on the third step of the podium with Julien Maurin just behind in fourth. French drivers dominated the Junior World Rally Championship from start to finish. The young members of the FFSA French Rally Team, Laurent Pellier and Yohan Rossel, were locked in battle throughout the rally until the first-named got the upper hand and finished his first round in the WRC in a blaze of glory. All the teams and drivers will be back in six months for the 2017 Che Guevara Energy Drink Tour de Corse (7-9 April), as the date of the event has recently been repositioned by the FIA and the promoter on the world rally calendar.