UPDATED: RallySport Magazine December 2016

There were scenes of emotion around
the team when the rally came to an
end.
Hyundai achieved everything it
could hope for when Neuville
took a podium position at the
end and had sufficient points to maintain
his second place in the Drivers’
championship. But the team had a
muddled event, largely because of the
difficulty of deciding the correct tyre
choices.
Second running Neuville found the
tracks so challenging that he drastically
changed his driving style, finding
sideways driving gave him better
grip, while Paddon used a mixture
of soft and hard tyres when every
other Michelin driver used softs in the
morning stages, and found he could
barely drive his car in a straight line.
Just when he was safely in a podium
place within sight of the leaders, he
punctured on the final morning.
Sordo had a miserable first day
when he incurred a 20 second penalty
on a very short WRC event, when the
top runners stayed closely bunched
together, and it would cost him a
podium place.
It was unusual for Mads Ostberg to
enjoy a rally without the countless time
consuming problems that have been
plaguing him during the season. He
finished sixth overall, after lying fifth
The four-time World
Champion almost pulled off
an incredible victory.
during a long battle with Dani Sordo,
despite two poor times on the long
50km Nambucca stages, suffering firstly
from dust and then handling difficulties
after he had suggested a change in his
set-up.
His teammate Eric Camilli was driving
a steady event and lying seventh, close
behind Ostberg, when he then rolled
his car three stages from the end and
did not finish.
After some excellent performances
during the season on his new
generation range of DMacks, these
tyres did not work well for Tanak in the
extreme hot and abrasive conditions of
Australia. He bravely battled on after
he dropped back after a spin on Friday
morning, and then was stopped by
police on the Saturday, after which led
to a 40 second time control penalty.
Once again Ostberg finished a season
with the top championship score in his
team, but it was widely wondered if he
was being squeezed out of the M-Sport
team.
The race for the WRC2 title was
finally won by Esapekka Lappi in the
official Skoda team Fabia R5, while his
championship rival, Teemu Suninen (in
the private Oreca team Skoda), waited
to see if his earlier efforts had been
enough – they weren’t.
Suninen tied on points with Fiesta
R5 driver Elfyn Evans for second place,
but Suninen took the position under tie
deciding rules. Simone Tempestini had
already done enough to take the WRC3
title, but nevertheless Michel Fabre
went to Australia and his walkover
result brought him to within just one
point of the title.
Mads Ostberg was the best
of the M-Sport runners,
despite never challenging.
HJC MOTORSPORTS
n: AU 1800 CHICANE or NZ 0800 CHICANE
DECEMBER 2016 - RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE | 15