2018 Rallye Deutschland

Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul entered the round with a twenty-one-point lead in the World Championship for Drivers and Co-drivers. In the World Championship for Manufacturers, Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT held a twenty-six-point lead over M-Sport Ford WRT.

The following crews were entered into the rally. The event was opened to crews competing in the World Rally Championship, World Rally Championship-2, and the World Rally Championship-3. The final entry list consisted of thirteen World Rally Car entries, nineteen entries in World Rally Championship-2, and three World Rally Championship-3 entries.

No.	Entrant	Driver	Co-Driver	Car	Tyre
World Rally Car entries
1	M-Sport Ford WRT	Sébastien Ogier	Julien Ingrassia	Ford Fiesta WRC	M
2	M-Sport Ford WRT	Elfyn Evans	Daniel Barritt	Ford Fiesta WRC	M
3	M-Sport Ford WRT	Teemu Suninen	Mikko Markkula	Ford Fiesta WRC	M
4	Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT	Andreas Mikkelsen	Anders Jæger-Synnevaag	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	M
5	Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT	Thierry Neuville	Nicolas Gilsoul	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	M
6	Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT	Dani Sordo	Carlos del Barrio	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	M
7	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT	Jari-Matti Latvala	Miikka Anttila	Toyota Yaris WRC	M
8	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT	Ott Tänak	Martin Järveoja	Toyota Yaris WRC	M
9	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT	Esapekka Lappi	Janne Ferm	Toyota Yaris WRC	M
10	Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT	Mads Østberg	Torstein Eriksen	Citroën C3 WRC	M
11	Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT	Craig Breen	Scott Martin	Citroën C3 WRC	M
21	M-Sport World Rally Team	Jourdan Serderidis	Frédéric Miclotte	Ford Fiesta WRC	M
22	Marijan Griebel	Marijan Griebel	Alexander Rath	Citroën DS3 WRC	M
World Rally Championship-2 entries
31	Škoda Motorsport II	Jan Kopecký	Pavel Dresler	Škoda Fabia R5	M
32	Gus Greensmith	Gus Greensmith	Stuart Loudon[lower-alpha 1]	Ford Fiesta R5	M
33	Printsport	Łukasz Pieniążek	Przemysław Mazur	Škoda Fabia R5	M
34	ACI Team Italia WRC	Fabio Andolfi	Simone Scattolin	Škoda Fabia R5	P
35	Nil Solans	Nil Solans	Miquel Ibáñez Sotos	Ford Fiesta R5	P
36	BRC Racing Team	Pierre-Louis Loubet	Vincent Landais	Hyundai i20 R5	M
37	Citroën Total Rallye Team	Stéphane Lefebvre	Gabin Moreau	Citroën C3 R5	M
38	Eddie Sciessere	Eddie Sciessere	Elia Ometto Pietro	Škoda Fabia R5	M
39	CHL Sport Auto	Yoann Bonato	Benjamin Boulloud	Citroën C3 R5	M
40	Hyundai Motorsport	Jari Huttunen	Antti Linnaketo	Hyundai i20 R5	M
41	Nicolas Ciamin	Nicolas Ciamin	Thibault de la Haye	Hyundai i20 R5	M
42	S.A. Motorsport Italia Srl	Benito Guerra Jr.	Borja Rozada	Škoda Fabia R5	P
43	Škoda Auto Deutschland	Fabian Kreim	Frank Christian	Škoda Fabia R5	P
44	Škoda Motorsport II	Kalle Rovanperä	Jonne Halttunen	Škoda Fabia R5	M
45	Lotos Rally Team	Kajetan Kajetanowicz	Maciej Szczepaniak	Ford Fiesta R5	P
46	Citroën Total Rallye Team	Simone Tempestini	Sergio Itu	Citroën C3 R5	M
47	M-Sport Ford WRT	Eric Camilli	Benjamin Veillas	Ford Fiesta R5	M
48	S.A. Motorsport Italia Srl	Umberto Scandola	Andrea Gaspari	Škoda Fabia R5	D
49	Hyundai Motor España	José Antonio Suárez	Cándido Carrera	Hyundai i20 R5	M
World Rally Championship-3 entries
62	Enrico Brazzoli	Enrico Brazzoli	Luca Beltrame	Peugeot 208 R2	D
63	Taisko Lario	Taisko Lario	Tatu Hämäläinen	Peugeot 208 R2	P
64	Terry Folb	Terry Folb[lower-alpha 2]	Kevin Bronner	Ford Fiesta R2T	P
65	Louise Cook	Louise Cook	Stefan Davis	Ford Fiesta R2T	M
Other Major Entries
61	Équipe de France FFSA Rally	Jean-Baptiste Franceschi[lower-alpha 3]	Romain Courbon	Ford Fiesta R2T	P
81	Printsport	Ole Christian Veiby	Stig Rune Skjærmoen	Škoda Fabia R5	P
82	Albert von Thurn und Taxis	Albert von Thurn und Taxis	Klaus Wicha	Škoda Fabia R5	P
Source:[8]

Ott Tänak, who won the Shakedown, topped his Yaris over the WRC 2 category leader Kalle Rovanperä by just one-tenth of a second, while the young Norwegian Ole Christian Veiby was another slender 0.1 second behind. Returned Dani Sordo cleared the stage in fourth, followed by another experienced WRC 2 driver Jan Kopecký. Defending world champion Sébastien Ogier finished in seventh, ahead of Andreas Mikkelsen and Craig Breen by 0.1 and 0.2 second respectively. Two WRC 2 drivers, Umberto Scandola and Kajetan Kajetanowicz completed the top ten.

Five-time world champion Sébastien Ogier was the fastest man to finish the day other than the defending rally winner Ott Tänak, who set five out of six fastest stage times and built a 12.3-second lead over the Frenchman, while championship leader Thierry Neuville was another 15.1 seconds behind. Elfyn Evans climbed up three places in the afternoon loop and edged Jari-Matti Latvala by a second. Dani Sordo completed the day in sixth, only one-tenth of a second ahead of Esapekka Lappi, who failed to come to terms with dirt dragged onto the roads by the early starters. Craig Breen lost some time due to being caught in a heavy rain shower in the early stage in the eighth place, followed by Andreas Mikkelsen, who was struggling with his i20's handling and chose to change his driving style, in ninth, only one second behind. Teemu Suninen, driving a third Fiesta, in tenth. Lacking of power caused Mads Østberg to fail to find the pace like Finland, which made him cleared the day off the leaderboard in eleventh overall.

The Ford Fiesta WRC of Elfyn Evans and Daniel Barritt crew during the rally.

Saturday turned out to be a total disaster for Ford. First in the early stage, Elfyn Evans retired his Ford Fiesta from the day after sliding into a field, damaging the left front wheel in the process. Then in the afternoon loop, Second-place Sébastien Ogier suffered a puncture due to hitting a rock in the second pass through the marathon Panzerplatte military road test, dropping him five places to seventh overall, half a second behind Andreas Mikkelsen in front. This further extended Ott Tänak's lead to 43.7 seconds. This time over Dani Sordo, who edged Jari-Matti Latvala by just 0.8 second after a hot fight. Championship leader Thierry Neuville struggled for pace in his i20. He switched back to yesterday's differential and gearbox settings and found a comfortable rhythm. The Belgian eventually ended the day in fourth, eight seconds ahead of Esapekka Lappi. Teemu Suninen climbed up to eighth after Craig Breen crashed in the final stage and damaged his Citroën C3's rear left suspension and dropped down to tenth place, followed by Mads Østberg cleared the day in ninth after a trouble free day.

The opening stage saw a dramatic start to final day of the event. Tenth-place Mads Østberg, who was third on road, went off into a field and forced to retire from the event. Dani Sordo and Jari-Matti Latvala should have a fierce competition for second place, but an accident damage, which is happened on the Spaniard，and a transmission failure, which is happened on the Finn, burned the battle to ash. The biggest beneficiary of the chaos is championship leader Thierry Neuville, who was pushed up to the second place after the two's retirement.[9]

The king of the event is obviously Ott Tänak, who led the entire rally but one stage. The Estonian took his first back-to-back victory in his career and now eats the gap to top to thirty-six points in the drivers' championships. Teammate Esapekka Lappi finished third, 21.7 seconds behind Thierry Neuville. With a 1-3 finish, Toyota overtook Ford to second in the manufacturers' championships, only thirteen points behind Hyundai.[10] Although defending world champion Sébastien Ogier won the Power Stage, the outcome of fourth place finish still failed to narrow the gap to championship leader Thierry Neuville — it is up to twenty-three points after the event. Teammate Teemu Suninen completed the rally with a fifth-place finish after a consistent weekend, followed by Andreas Mikkelsen in sixth. Craig Breen finished in seventh, while localman Marijan Griebel finished in eighth. WRC 2 leader Jan Kopecký and seventeen-year-old Kalle Rovanperä completed the leaderboard.

The following crews finished the rally in each class's top ten.[lower-alpha 4]

Position		No.	Driver	Co-driver	Entrant	Car	Time	Difference	Points
Event	Class								Class	Stage
Overall classification
1	1	8	Ott Tänak	Martin Järveoja	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT	Toyota Yaris WRC	3:03:36.9	0.0	25	4
2	2	5	Thierry Neuville	Nicolas Gilsoul	Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	3:04:16.1	+39.2	18	1
3	3	9	Esapekka Lappi	Janne Ferm	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT	Toyota Yaris WRC	3:04:37.8	+1:00.9	15	3
4	4	1	Sébastien Ogier	Julien Ingrassia	M-Sport Ford WRT	Ford Fiesta WRC	3:05:11.4	+1:34.5	12	5
5	5	3	Teemu Suninen	Mikko Markkula	M-Sport Ford WRT	Ford Fiesta WRC	3:05:39.8	+2:02.9	10	0
6	6	4	Andreas Mikkelsen	Anders Jæger-Synnevaag	Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	3:05:50.7	+2:13.8	8	0
7	7	11	Craig Breen	Scott Martin	Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT	Citroën C3 WRC	3:06:16.0	+2:39.1	6	2
8	8	22	Marijan Griebel	Alexander Rath	Marijan Griebel	Citroën DS3 WRC	3:14:18.1	+10:41.2	4	0
9	9	31	Jan Kopecký	Pavel Dresler	Škoda Motorsport II	Škoda Fabia R5	3:16:49.7	+13:12.8	2	0
10	10	44	Kalle Rovanperä	Jonne Halttunen	Škoda Motorsport II	Škoda Fabia R5	3:16:53.5	+13:16.6	1	0
World Rally Championship-2
9	1	31	Jan Kopecký	Pavel Dresler	Škoda Motorsport II	Škoda Fabia R5	3:16:49.7	0.0	25	—
10	2	44	Kalle Rovanperä	Jonne Halttunen	Škoda Motorsport II	Škoda Fabia R5	3:16:53.5	+3.8	18	—
11	3	34	Fabio Andolfi	Simone Scattolin	ACI Team Italia WRC	Škoda Fabia R5	3:17:07.8	+18.1	15	—
12	4	43	Fabian Kreim	Frank Christian	Škoda Auto Deutschland	Škoda Fabia R5	3:17:40.6	+50.9	12	—
13	5	45	Kajetan Kajetanowicz	Maciej Szczepaniak	Lotos Rally Team	Ford Fiesta R5	3:17:44.1	+54.4	10	—
14	6	33	Łukasz Pieniążek	Przemysław Mazur	Printsport	Škoda Fabia R5	3:19:10.1	+2:20.4	8	—
15	7	41	Nicolas Ciamin	Thibault de la Haye	Nicolas Ciamin	Hyundai i20 R5	3:19:11.8	+2:22.1	6	—
16	8	37	Stéphane Lefebvre	Gabin Moreau	Citroën Total Rallye Team	Citroën C3 R5	3:19:49.6	+2:59.9	4	—
19	9	42	Benito Guerra Jr.	Borja Rozada	S.A. Motorsport Italia Srl	Škoda Fabia R5	3:22:47.5	+5:57.8	2	—
20	10	46	Simone Tempestini	Sergio Itu	Citroën Total Rallye Team	Citroën C3 R5	3:24:42.1	+7:52.4	1	—
World Rally Championship-3
30	1	63	Taisko Lario	Tatu Hämäläinen	Taisko Lario	Peugeot 208 R2	3:49:47.9	0.0	25	—
35	2	62	Enrico Brazzoli	Luca Beltrame	Enrico Brazzoli	Peugeot 208 R2	4:01:25.7	+11:37.8	18	—
38	3	65	Louise Cook	Stefan Davis	Louise Cook	Ford Fiesta R2T	4:09:33.2	+19:45.3	15	—
Source:[11][12]

The following notable crews finished the rally outside top ten.[lower-alpha 4]

Position		No.	Driver	Co-driver	Entrant	Car	Class	Time	Points
Event	Class								Stage
25	25	2	Elfyn Evans	Daniel Barritt	M-Sport Ford WRT	Ford Fiesta WRC	WRC	3:40:04.0	0
26	11	39	Yoann Bonato	Benjamin Boulloud	CHL Sport Auto	Citroën C3 R5	WRC-2	3:43:11.2	—
27	12	40	Jari Huttunen	Antti Linnaketo	Hyundai Motorsport	Hyundai i20 R5	WRC-2	3:44:57.1	—
Source:[11][12]

The Power stage was a 14.97 km stage at the end of the rally. Additional World Championship points were awarded to the five fastest crews.

Pos.	Driver	Co-driver	Car	Time	Diff.	Pts.
1	Sébastien Ogier	Julien Ingrassia	Ford Fiesta WRC	7:15.0	0.0	5
2	Ott Tänak	Martin Järveoja	Toyota Yaris WRC	7:15.1	+0.1	4
3	Esapekka Lappi	Janne Ferm	Toyota Yaris WRC	7:19.0	+4.0	3
4	Craig Breen	Scott Martin	Citroën C3 WRC	7:19.2	+4.2	2
5	Thierry Neuville	Nicolas Gilsoul	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	7:21.7	+6.7	1

The following notable crews were given time penalty during the rally.[lower-alpha 4]

Stage	No.	Driver	Co-driver	Entrant	Car	Class	Reason	Penalty
SS3	41	Nicolas Ciamin	Thibault de la Haye	Nicolas Ciamin	Hyundai i20 R5	WRC-2	1 minute late	0:10
SS6	35	Nil Solans	Miquel Ibáñez Sotos	Nil Solans	Ford Fiesta R5	WRC-2	4 minutes late	0:40
SS7	49	José Antonio Suárez	Cándido Carrera	Hyundai Motor España	Hyundai i20 R5	WRC-2	7 minutes late	1:10
SS8	35	Nil Solans	Miquel Ibáñez Sotos	Nil Solans	Ford Fiesta R5	WRC-2	4 minutes late	0:40
SS11	21	Jourdan Serderidis	Frédéric Miclotte	M-Sport World Rally Team	Ford Fiesta WRC	WRC	1 minute early	1:00
SS15	41	Nicolas Ciamin	Thibault de la Haye	Nicolas Ciamin	Hyundai i20 R5	WRC-2	Stewards decision	0:30
SS16	6	Dani Sordo	Carlos del Barrio	Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	WRC	10 minutes late	1:40

The following notable crews retired from the event.[lower-alpha 4] Under Rally2 regulations, they were eligible to re-enter the event starting from the next leg. Crews that re-entered were given an additional time penalty.

Stage	No.	Driver	Co-driver	Entrant	Car	Class	Cause	Re-entry
SS5	82	Albert von Thurn und Taxis	Klaus Wicha	Albert von Thurn und Taxis	Škoda Fabia R5	—	Mechanical	No
SS9	35	Nil Solans	Miquel Ibáñez Sotos	Nil Solans	Ford Fiesta R5	WRC-2	Off road	No
SS9	36	Pierre-Louis Loubet	Vincent Landais	BRC Racing Team	Hyundai i20 R5	WRC-2	Mechanical	Yes
SS11	2	Elfyn Evans	Daniel Barritt	M-Sport Ford WRT	Ford Fiesta WRC	WRC	Off road	Yes
SS13	32	Gus Greensmith	Stuart Loudon	Gus Greensmith	Ford Fiesta R5	WRC-2	Driver injury	No
SS13	39	Yoann Bonato	Benjamin Boulloud	CHL Sport Auto	Citroën C3 R5	WRC-2	Mechanical	Yes
SS14	40	Jari Huttunen	Antti Linnaketo	Hyundai Motorsport	Hyundai i20 R5	WRC-2	Mechanical	Yes
SS14	47	Eric Camilli	Benjamin Veillas	M-Sport Ford WRT	Ford Fiesta R5	WRC-2	Timing belt	No
SS16	7	Jari-Matti Latvala	Miikka Anttila	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT	Toyota Yaris WRC	WRC	Transmission	No
SS16	10	Mads Østberg	Torstein Eriksen	Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT	Citroën C3 WRC	WRC	Off road	No
SS17	6	Dani Sordo	Carlos del Barrio	M-Sport Ford WRT	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	WRC	Accident damage	No
SS17	48	Umberto Scandola	Andrea Gaspari	S.A. Motorsport Italia Srl	Škoda Fabia R5	WRC-2	Turbo	No
SS18	61	Jean-Baptiste Franceschi	Romain Courbon	Équipe de France FFSA Rally	Ford Fiesta R2T	—	Differential	No