Sebastien Ogier in an M-Sport Ford Fiesta clinched his sixth consecutive FIS World Rally Championship after a chaotic final round in Australia.

Fifth place at Kennards Hire Rally Australia was enough for Ogier to stay at the top of the leaderboard, helped in no small way by the fate that befell Thierry Neuville and Ott Tänak, who both crashed while trying to keep their championship hopes alive.   

Ogier’s calmness shone through after heavy rain transformed the gravel forest roads into a muddy mess. He was faultless while both Neuville and overnight leader Tänak escaped brushes with the scenery during the opening three speed tests.

Worse was to follow. Neuville parked his Hyundai i20 three stages from the finish after swiping a bank and ripping a rear wheel from his car. In the next staget Tänak slithered into a tree and his Toyota Yaris ground to a halt with no drive. 

"It’s been an incredible season, so close. Not so long ago we were thinking it was going to be tough to grab this title but we never gave up. We gave everything, with a fantastic team behind us who kept fighting and in the end we grabbed it in the last rally. It’s so emotional,” said Ogier. 

This was Ogier’s final appearance in M-Sport’s Ford Fiesta before he switches to Citroën in 2019.

Jari-Matti Latvala won the rally by 32.5sec in a Toyota Yaris from Hayden Paddon’s Hyundai i20. Latvala’s win also secured the manufacturers’ title for the Toyota Gazoo Racing team. Mads Ostberg finished third in a Citroën C3, a further 19.7sec back. 

Ireland’s Craig Breen driving a Citroën C3 visited the scenery a remarkable five times in six stages but survived to finish seventh in Australia and seventh in the overall championship standings.