Rally Sweden: Ogier dominates as Paddon suffers late drama

Sebastien Ogier has completed a masterful performance in tricky conditions for a second consecutive victory at Rally Sweden after fending off Hayden Paddon who suffered late drama after breaking the radiator on his Hyundai i20 WRC on the Power stage.

After Ogier saw his lead in Rally Sweden slashed to 8.8 seconds by Paddon on the morning of the second leg, the Volkswagen Motorsport driver produced a fantastic display of ice driving to inch out his lead before profiting from being last on the road at the Power stage and using the advantageous conditions to claim the three bonus points.

The Rally Sweden Power stage win ensures the three-time WRC champion continues his flawless start to the defence of his title having also won Rallye Monte Carlo and taken the Power stage victory last month.

Paddon became the unlikely sole rival for victory after a number of WRC challengers suffered punctures and other mechanical issues, but the result is not yet confirmed after the New Zealand driver suffered a broken radiator after colliding with a marker post on the Power stage.

The Hyundai Motorsport driver must drive the 86km return journey to the final service park to ensure the runner-up spot is his despite completing the rally stages.

As a result, provisionally Mads Ostberg has completed the rostrum in third place to secure M-Sport its first podium in 2016 ahead of Volkswagen Motorsport II driver Andreas Mikkelsen.

Ott Tanak steered clear of any late danger to take fifth place for DMACK WRT Ford, while Dani Sordo in the second-string Hyundai squad recovered from a tyre puncture and loss of confidence for sixth place ahead of WRC legend Henning Solberg.

Craig Breen completed a memorable Citroen WRC debut in eighth position with Elfyn Evans claiming a second consecutive WRC 2 victory and ninth position overall, as Teemu Suninen rounded out the top ten.

Kris Meeke narrowly missed out on picking up a point with third place on the Power Stage to end Rally Sweden on a high after suffering a broken front-right axel on Friday.

Jari-Matti Latvala, Ogier’s VW team-mate, continued his nightmare start to 2016 with another pointless race weekend by sustaining a broken driveshaft on the opening day.