WRC – Ott Tänak leads the 2018 ADAC Rallye Deutschland

Tremendous start, spectacular action, ideal conditions – day one of the 2018 ADAC Rallye Deutschland had plenty to offer. The sporting highlight was watched by large crowds at the opening stage of the German WRC rally, which took place at the new start and finish venue of St. Wendel. The entrants mastered a 2.04-km route in the arena-like Wendelinuspark, drifting with millimetre precision, to the delight of those watching on.

Last year’s winner Ott Tänak (EST) was the fastest man, setting a stage-winning time of 2:11.2 minutes in his Toyota Yaris WRC. Skoda Fabia R5 drivers Kalle Rovanperä and Ole Christian Veiby caused an upset, finishing second and third respectively, ahead of the bulk of the WRC stars. Dani Sordo (ESP), at the wheel of the Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC, clocked the fourth-fastest time on the Super Special Stage. Fifth place went to another Skoda man, Jan Kopecký (CZE): the WRC 2 driver was 0.3 seconds faster than world champion Sébastien Ogier (FRA), who finished sixth in his Ford Fiesta WRC. World Championship leader Thierry Neuville (BEL), who won the German round of the FIA World Rally Championship in 2014, ended the opening stage two seconds off the pace in 13th place.

The thrilling sprint stage was preceded by the opening ceremony at the ADAC Rallye Deutschland, which was held in a great atmosphere on the Schlossplatz square in St. Wendel. The spectators, competitors and many volunteers at the German WRC rally were welcomed to Saarland by Klaus Bouillon (Saarland Minister of the Interior, Building and Sport), Peter Klär (mayor of St. Wendel) and Hermann Tomczyk (ADAC Sports President). Once the rally teams had been introduced, the fans were able to get close to the WRC stars and collect their autographs.

The Shakedown St. Wendeler Land on Thursday morning gave fans a taste of the kind of action they can look forward to over the coming days. The 5.6-kilometre warm-up route played host to a thrilling battle for the fastest time, which saw the top five finish within one second of each other. The fastest man was once again Ott Tänak with a time of 2:52.9 minutes, closely followed by fellow Toyota driver Jari-Matti Latvala (FIN) and defending champion Sébastien Ogier (FRA). The Hyundai duo of Thierry Neuville and Dani Sordo finished fourth and fifth in the shakedown. The fastest Citroën C3 WRC driver was Craig Breen (IRL) in sixth place.   Standings after 1 of 18 special stages: