The 2018 Rallye Deutschland (formally known as the ADAC Rallye Deutschland 2018) was a motor racing event for rally cars held over four days between 16 and 19 August 2018. It marked the thirty-sixth running of Rallye Deutschland, and was the ninth round of the 2018 FIA World Rally Championship and its support categories, the WRC-2 and WRC-3 championships. The event was based at Sankt Wendel in the countryside surrounding the Bostalsee in Saarland, and consisted of eighteen special stages totalling in competitive kilometres.
Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja were the defending rally winners and they successfully defended their title. The Škoda Motorsport II crew of Jan Kopecký and Pavel Dresler won the World Rally Championship-2 category in a Škoda Fabia R5, while Finnish crew Taisko Lario and Tatu Hämäläinen won the World Rally Championship-3.
Background Championship standings prior to the event 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.
Entry list 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 2 M-Sport Ford WRT Elfyn Evans Daniel Barritt Ford Fiesta WRC 3 M-Sport Ford WRT Teemu Suninen Mikko Markkula Ford Fiesta WRC 4 5 Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Thierry Neuville Nicolas Gilsoul Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 6 Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Dani Sordo Carlos del Barrio Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 7 Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Jari-Matti Latvala Miikka Anttila Toyota Yaris WRC 8 Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Ott Tänak Martin Järveoja Toyota Yaris WRC 9 Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Esapekka Lappi Janne Ferm Toyota Yaris WRC 10 Mads Østberg Torstein Eriksen Citroën C3 WRC 11 Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT Craig Breen Scott Martin Citroën C3 WRC 21 M-Sport World Rally Team Jourdan Serderidis Frédéric Miclotte Ford Fiesta WRC 22 Marijan Griebel Marijan Griebel Alexander Rath Citroën DS3 WRC World Rally Championship-2 entries 31 Škoda Motorsport II Škoda Fabia R5 32 Gus Greensmith Gus Greensmith Stuart Loudon Ford Fiesta R5 33 Printsport Łukasz Pieniążek Przemysław Mazur Škoda Fabia R5 34 ACI Team Italia WRC Fabio Andolfi Simone Scattolin Škoda Fabia R5 35 Nil Solans Nil Solans Miquel Ibáñez Sotos Ford Fiesta R5 36 BRC Racing Team Pierre-Louis Loubet Vincent Landais Hyundai i20 R5 37 Stéphane Lefebvre Gabin Moreau Citroën C3 R5 38 Eddie Sciessere Eddie Sciessere Elia Ometto Pietro Škoda Fabia R5 39 CHL Sport Auto Yoann Bonato Benjamin Boulloud Citroën C3 R5 40 Hyundai Motorsport Jari Huttunen Antti Linnaketo Hyundai i20 R5 41 Nicolas Ciamin Nicolas Ciamin Thibault de la Haye Hyundai i20 R5 42 S.A. Motorsport Italia Srl Benito Guerra Jr. Borja Rozada Škoda Fabia R5 43 Škoda Auto Deutschland Fabian Kreim Frank Christian Škoda Fabia R5 44 Škoda Motorsport II Kalle Rovanperä Jonne Halttunen Škoda Fabia R5 45 Lotos Rally Team Kajetan Kajetanowicz Maciej Szczepaniak Ford Fiesta R5 46 Citroën Total Rallye Team Simone Tempestini Sergio Itu Citroën C3 R5 47 M-Sport Ford WRT Eric Camilli Benjamin Veillas Ford Fiesta R5 48 S.A. Motorsport Italia Srl Umberto Scandola Andrea Gaspari Škoda Fabia R5 49 Hyundai Motor España José Antonio Suárez Cándido Carrera Hyundai i20 R5 World Rally Championship-3 entries 62 Enrico Brazzoli Enrico Brazzoli Luca Beltrame Peugeot 208 R2 63 Taisko Lario Taisko Lario Peugeot 208 R2 64 Terry Folb Terry Folb 65 Louise Cook Louise Cook Stefan Davis Other Major Entries 61 Romain Courbon 81 Printsport Ole Christian Veiby Stig Rune Skjærmoen Škoda Fabia R5 82 Klaus Wicha Škoda Fabia R5 Source:
Report Thursday 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.
Friday 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.
Saturday
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.
Sunday 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.
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. 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.
Classification Top ten finishers The following crews finished the rally in each class's top ten. Position Driver Entrant Car Time Points Event Class Class Stage Overall classification 1 183:03:36.9 0.0254 2 253:04:16.1 +39.2181 3 393:04:37.8 +1:00.9153 4 413:05:11.4 +1:34.5125 5 533:05:39.8 +2:02.9100 6 643:05:50.7 +2:13.880 7 7113:06:16.0 +2:39.162 8 8223:14:18.1 +10:41.240 9 9313:16:49.7 +13:12.820 10 10443:16:53.5 +13:16.610 World Rally Championship-2 9 1313:16:49.7 0.025— 10 2443:16:53.5 +3.818— 11 3343:17:07.8 +18.115— 12 4433:17:40.6 +50.912— 13 5453:17:44.1 +54.410— 14 6333:19:10.1 +2:20.48— 15 7413:19:11.8 +2:22.16— 16 8373:19:49.6 +2:59.94— 19 9423:22:47.5 +5:57.82— 20 10463:24:42.1 +7:52.41— World Rally Championship-3 30 163 3:49:47.9 0.0 25 — 35 262 4:01:25.7 +11:37.8 18 — 38 365 4:09:33.2 +19:45.3 15 — Source:
Other notable finishers The following notable crews finished the rally outside top ten.
Position Driver Entrant Car Class Time Points Event Class Stage 25 25 2 Elfyn Evans Daniel Barritt M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta WRC 3:40:04.0 0 26 11 39 Yoann Bonato Benjamin Boulloud Citroën C3 R5 3:43:11.2 — 27 12 40 Jari Huttunen Antti Linnaketo Hyundai Motorsport Hyundai i20 R5 3:44:57.1 — Source:
Special stages Overall classification Day Stage Name Length Winner Car Time 16 August — 5.52 km 2:52.9 SS1 St. Wendel 2.04 km 2:11.2 17 August SS2 Stein und Wein 1 19.44 km 10:50.2 SS3 Mittelmosel 1 22.00 km 12:25.2 SS4 Wadern – Weiskichen 1 9.27 km 5:06.7 SS5 Stein und Wein 2 19.44 km 11:03.2 SS6 Mittelmosel 2 22.00 km 12:36.9 SS7 Wadern – Weiskichen 2 9.27 km 5:07.5 18 August SS8 Arena Panzerplatte 1 9.43 km 5:26.4 SS9 Panzerplatte 1 38.57 km 21:55.7 SS10 Freisen 1 14.78 km 8:28.4 SS11 Römerstraße 1 12.28 km 6:03.3 SS12 Arena Panzerplatte 2 9.43 km 5:23.9 SS13 Panzerplatte 2 38.57 km 21:55.4 SS14 Freisen 2 14.78 km 8:31.8 SS15 Römerstraße 2 12.28 km 6:05.6 19 August SS16 Grafschaft 1 29.07 km 16:17.7 SS17 Grafschaft 2 29.07 km 16:15.0 SS18 14.97 km 7:15.0 World Rally Championship-2 16 August — 5.52 km 3:04.5 SS1 St. Wendel 2.04 km 2:11.3 17 August SS2 Stein und Wein 1 19.44 km 11:34.3 SS3 Mittelmosel 1 22.00 km 13:54.4 SS4 Wadern – Weiskichen 1 9.27 km 5:31.5 SS5 Stein und Wein 2 19.44 km 11:41.6 SS6 Mittelmosel 2 22.00 km 13:23.8 SS7 Wadern – Weiskichen 2 9.27 km 5:29.3 18 August SS8 Arena Panzerplatte 1 9.43 km 5:46.4 SS9 Panzerplatte 1 38.57 km 23:22.0 SS10 Freisen 1 14.78 km 8:58.7 SS11 Römerstraße 1 12.28 km 6:30.1 SS12 Arena Panzerplatte 2 9.43 km 5:41.0 SS13 Panzerplatte 2 38.57 km 23:03.4 SS14 Freisen 2 14.78 km 8:58.9 SS15 Römerstraße 2 12.28 km 6:29.2 19 August SS16 Grafschaft 1 29.07 km 17:20.8 SS17 Grafschaft 2 29.07 km 17:07.7 SS18 Bosenberg 14.97 km 7:45.5 World Rally Championship-3 16 August — 5.52 km 3:32.0 SS1 St. Wendel 2.04 km 2:31.3 17 August SS2 Stein und Wein 1 19.44 km 13:28.5 SS3 Mittelmosel 1 22.00 km 16:26.6 SS4 Wadern – Weiskichen 1 9.27 km 6:20.3 SS5 Stein und Wein 2 19.44 km 13:31.7 SS6 Mittelmosel 2 22.00 km 15:40.5 SS7 Wadern – Weiskichen 2 9.27 km 6:27.0 18 August SS8 Arena Panzerplatte 1 9.43 km 6:51.5 SS9 Panzerplatte 1 38.57 km 27:01.1 SS10 Freisen 1 14.78 km 10:28.2 SS11 Römerstraße 1 12.28 km 7:32.5 SS12 Arena Panzerplatte 2 9.43 km 6:37.9 SS13 Panzerplatte 2 38.57 km 27:05.8 SS14 Freisen 2 14.78 km 10:31.2 SS15 Römerstraße 2 12.28 km 7:41.6 19 August SS16 Grafschaft 1 29.07 km 20:47.5 SS17 Grafschaft 2 29.07 km 20:34.9 SS18 Bosenberg 14.97 km 9:26.0
Power stage 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.