Ogier took the lead on Sunday morning when both his team-mate Elfyn Evans and Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville made driving errors. He eventually finished 9.7 seconds ahead of Evans.
This victory marks Ogier’s 59th career win, and he has now stood on the podium exactly one hundred times in the WRC.
“Nice number, so happy with that for sure. We knew here start position would be an issue and it would be difficult. I´ve never have so many moments in one rally. It´s good to get the win for the team,” Ogier commented.
“It’s a feeling of disappointment with the spin and the tyre choice. It’s not ideal but you have to be in it to try. It’s been a good weekend but disappointed with today,” Evans remarked.
Neuville, who celebrated winning the “long race” on Saturday, finished 45.8 seconds behind the winner.
“It is what it is. Great few days but unfortunately today didn’t go well. We took 19 points from the weekend. We had wanted to push hard in the Wolf Power Stage but without the rear wing it’s undriveable,” Neuville said.
Hyundai’s Ott Tänak finished fourth in the rally, ahead of Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta and Hyundai’s Andreas Mikkelsen. M-Sport Ford’s Gregoire Munster came in seventh.
Having already made a mistake earlier on Sunday, M-Sport Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux dominated the rally-ending Power Stage. The Frenchman won the Power Stage, securing five WRC points, with a 3.8-second margin ahead of Tänak. Ogier was third in the final stage ahead of Katsuta and Evans.
Katsuta claimed the full seven WRC points from Sunday’s race. Tänak finished second, followed by Ogier and Mikkelsen. Points were also awarded to Evans, Munster, and Neuville.
Ogier earned the most WRC points from Croatia, a total of 21. Tänak secured 20 points and both Neuville and Evans 19.
In the WRC2 class, Citroen driver Nikolay Gryazin, racing under the Bulgarian flag, celebrated victory, defeating team-mate Yohan Rossel by 38.2 seconds. Sami Pajari was the third fastest in the Rally2 cars, although Gus Greensmith closed to within 0.3 seconds on the final stage. However, Pajari was not competing for class points in Croatia.
“That was the plan [to stay ahead of Greensmith], obviously I was pushing like crazy in the beginning, we hit maybe one or two stones. We made it through and I gave it everything. There was a vibration in the car at the end, so maybe something isn’t perfect anymore,” Pajari summarized.
The WRC continues in May on the gravel of Portugal.
Final results of the Croatia Rally:
| POS | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | 2:40:23.6 |
| 2. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +9.7 |
| 3. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +45.8 |
| 4. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +58.6 |
| 5. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +1:55.5 |
| 6. | Andreas Mikkelsen | Hyundai | +4:01.0 |
| 7. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +5:11.0 |
| 8. | Nikolay Gryazin | Citroen | +9:21.3 |
| 9. | Yohan Rossel | Citroen | +9:59.5 |
| 10. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +10:22.7 |
| 11. | Gus Greensmith | Skoda | +10:23.0 |
| 12. | Pepe Lopez | Skoda | +12:02.3 |
Super Sunday standings:
| POS | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | 30:18.9 |
| 2. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +1.8 |
| 3. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | +7.1 |
| 4. | Andreas Mikkelsen | Hyundai | +18.9 |
| 5. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +23.5 |
| 6. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +33.4 |
| 7. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +1:04.5 |
Power Stage TOP5:
| POS | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Adrien Fourmaux | Ford | 8:01.7 |
| 2. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +3.8 |
| 3. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | +5.0 |
| 4. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +6.7 |
| 5. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +8.3 |
Croatia Rally itinerary (CET):
Thursday, April 18 09:01 Shakedown: Okić (3.65 km) Friday, April 19 08:28 SS1: Krašić - Sošice 1 (23.63 km) 09:41 SS2: Jaškovo - Mali Modruš Potok 1 (9.48 km) 10:39 SS3: Ravna Gora - Skrad 1 (10.13 km) 11:47 SS4: Platak 1 (16.63 km) 14:02 Tyre fitting zone (15 min) 14:45 SS5: Platak 2 (16.63 km) 15:58 SS6: Ravna Gora - Skrad 2 (10.13 km) 17:16 SS7: Jaškovo - Mali Modruš Potok 2 (9.48 km) 18:09 SS8: Krašić - Sošice 2 (23.63 km) Saturday, April 20 07:31 SS9: Smerovišće - Grdanjci 1 (15.72 km) 08:24 SS10: Stojdraga - Gornja Vas 1 (20.77 km) 10:05 SS11: Vinski Vrh - Duga Resa 1 (8.78 km) 11:03 SS12: Pećurkovo Brdo - Mrežnički Novaki 1 (9.11 km) 13:03 Service (40 min) 14:31 SS13: Smerovišće - Grdanjci 2 (15.72 km) 15:24 SS14: Stojdraga - Gornja Vas 2 (20.77 km) 17:05 SS15: Vinski Vrh - Duga Resa 2 (8.78 km) 18:03 SS16: Pećurkovo Brdo - Mrežnički Novaki 2 (9.11 km) Sunday, April 21 07:08 SS17: Trakošćan - Vrbno 1 (13.15 km) 08:35 SS18: Zagorska Sela - Kumrovec 1 (14.24 km) 10:23 SS19: Trakošćan - Vrbno 2 (13.15 km) 13:15 SS20: Zagorska Sela - Kumrovec 2 (14.24 km) *Power Stage
