Muted celebrations for world champion Sebastien Ogier after Wales Rally GB win

Sebastien Ogier continued to dominate the latest round of the FIA World Rally Championship as the Wales Rally GB entered its second day of competition, it wasn’t without drama though. He confined his celebrations to unfurling a French flag across his windscreen. The only temporary impediment occurring when he lost just over 30 seconds of time on Stage 7 at Gertheiniog when Hyundai driver Thierry Neuville’s auto rolled in front of him.

“I really enjoyed it here right from the beginning”, Meeke said.

While Meeke kept Ogier on his toes, he was always adamant the champion was realistically out of reach.

Meeke’s second place finish was the first top-three finish by a United Kingdom driver at the event since England’s Richard Burns was third in 2001, and came 20 years after Scotsman Colin McRae won the Rally of Britain.

Meeke’s priority is to help Citroen defeat Hyundai in their battle for second in the manufacturers’ championship rather than pursuing Ogier. Unfortunately Prokop’s day would end there as his Fiesta was too damaged to continue.

Ott Tänak crashed out on the opening stage on the final day, allowing Dani Sordo to regain the place he yielded yesterday by spinning into a bank, and finished 9.2sec ahead of team-mate Paddon.

M-Sport, another team whose drivers were fighting for their futures, had to settle for just the puncture-delayed Evans’s sixth place at home.

Ultimately, the result was not quite enough to overhaul the Citroen World Rally Team for the runner-up spot – a positionHyundai Motorsport held earlier in the season – as the team ended the season six points adrift in third place. Lorenzo Bertelli and a flu-hit Stéphane Lefebvre completed the top 10, the latter spinning his DS3 in the final stage.

Jari-Matti Latvala, back under Rally2 again after a Friday crash and Saturday transmission failure, was quickest on both stages.