Kennards Hire Rally Australia is set for a dramatic final day after Volkswagen duo Andreas Mikkelsen and Sebastien Ogier shared the spoils at the Destination NSW Super Special double header.
Two runs of the arena 1.2km stage on the Coffs Harbour coastline concluded the second day of action which saw Ogier and Julien Ingrassia apply more pressure on long time rally leader Mikkelsen and Anders Jaeger.
After an impressive charge through today’s stages, including two runs of the famous 50.8km Nambucca marathon, Ogier’s surge continued by taking out Stage 17.
The Frenchman topped the times by 0.6s from Hyundai’s Dani Sordo while Mikkelsen was a further 0.4s back in third.
Ogier’s victory saw Mikkelsen’s rally lead reduced to 1.8s before the Norwegian replied on the second run of the stage, pipping Ogier by 0.2s.
Hyundai’s Sordo and Thierry Neuville clocked identical times to claim third.
Despite losing 2.9s during the passes, team-mate Hayden Paddon and John Kennard remain on course for a podium in third overall, with the New Zealander holding a 21.8s gap back to Neuville in fourth.
Sordo and Marc Marti will hold fifth going into the final day just 1.4s ahead of top M-Sport Ford runner of Mads Ostberg and Ola Floene.
Esapekka Lappi looks set to claim the WRC2 title with a lead of more than four minutes over his nearest rival Nicholas Fuchs.
Harry Bates and John McCarthy begin Sunday as the top Australian entry in 14th overall with the Toyota Corolla pair favourites to claim the Australian Rally Championship title.
The duo lead by 2:54.6s from Mark Pedder and Dale Moscatt (Peugeot 208), while Molly Taylor and Bill Hayes are third in their Subaru Impreza WRX STi.
Rally Australia concludes on Sunday with a further five stages comprising 57.1kms, beginning with the Settlers Reverse (6.2km) test.
Result: Kennards Hire Rally Australia after Stage 18
| POS | CAR NO | DRIVER | CO-DRIVER | TEAM | ELIGIBILITY | GROUP CLASS | TIME | DIFF PREV | DIFF 1ST |
| 1. | 9 |  A. MIKKELSEN |
A. JAEGER SYNNEVAG |
VOLKSWAGEN MOTORSPORT II | T | RC1 | 2:15:06.2 | ||
| 2. | 1 |  S. OGIER |
J. INGRASSIA |
VOLKSWAGEN MOTORSPORT | M | RC1 | 2:15:08.2 | +2.0 | +2.0 |
| 3. | 4 |  H. PADDON |
J. KENNARD |
HYUNDAI MOTORSPORT | M | RC1 | 2:15:18.2 | +10.0 | +12.0 |
| 4. | 3 |  T. NEUVILLE |
N. GILSOUL |
HYUNDAI MOTORSPORT | M | RC1 | 2:15:40.0 | +21.8 | +33.8 |
| 5. | 20 |  D. SORDO |
M. MARTI |
HYUNDAI MOTORSPORT N | T | RC1 | 2:16:05.4 | +25.4 | +59.2 |
| 6. | 5 | M. OSTBERG |
O. FLOENE |
M-SPORT WORLD RALLY TEAM | M | RC1 | 2:16:06.8 | +1.4 | +1:00.6 |
| 7. | 6 | E. CAMILLI |
B. VEILLAS |
M-SPORT WORLD RALLY TEAM | M | RC1 | 2:16:27.9 | +21.1 | +1:21.7 |
| 8. | 12 |  O. TANAK |
R. MOLDER |
DMACK WORLD RALLY TEAM | T | RC1 | 2:17:26.1 | +58.2 | +2:19.9 |
| 9. | 37 |  L. BERTELLI |
S. SCATTOLIN |
F.W.R.T. | RC1 | 2:20:02.8 | +2:36.7 | +4:56.6 | |
| 10. | 31 |  E. LAPPI |
J. FERM |
SKODA MOTORSPORT | WRC2 | RC2 | 2:20:28.9 | +26.1 | +5:22.7 |
| 11. | 2 | J. LATVALA |
M. ANTTILA |
VOLKSWAGEN MOTORSPORT | M | RC1 | 2:22:40.0 | +2:11.1 | +7:33.8 |
| 12. | 42 |  N. FUCHS |
 F. MUSSANO |
NICHOLAS FUCHS | WRC2 | RC2 | 2:24:28.2 | +1:48.2 | +9:22.0 |
| 13. | 33 |  H. PTASZEK |
M. SZCZEPANIAK |
PEUGEOT SPORT SLOVAKIA | WRC2 | RC2 | 2:25:55.3 | +1:27.1 | +10:49.1 |
| 14. | 65 |  H. BATES |
J. MCCARTHY |
NEAL BATES | ASN | 2:29:07.5 | +3:12.2 | +14:01.3 | |
| 15. | 67 | M. TAYLOR |
W. HAYES |
LES WALKDEN | RC2 | 2:32:13.6 | +3:06.1 | +17:07.4 | |
| 16. | 68 | B. MARKOVIC |
G. MACNEALL |
BRAD MARKOVIC | ASN | 2:36:08.1 | +3:54.5 | +21:01.9 | |
| 17. | 72 | T. SULLENS |
K. NEWELL |
TONY SULLENS | ASN | 2:37:05.1 | +57.0 | +21:58.9 | |
| 18. | 76 | T. CLARKE |
R. PRESTON |
TOM CLARKE | ASN | 2:42:12.7 | +5:07.6 | +27:06.5 | |
| 19. | 75 | S. RAYMOND |
G. RAYMOND |
STEPHEN RAYMOND | RC4 | 2:45:41.2 | +3:28.5 | +30:35.0 | |
| 20. | 70 | D. KING |
D. NICOLI |
DYLAN KING | ASN | 2:46:50.4 | +1:09.2 | +31:44.2 | |
| 21. | 62 | M. FABRE |
M. VILMOT |
SAINTELOC JUNIOR TEAM | WRC3 | RC3 | 2:46:55.4 | +5.0 | +31:49.2 |
| 22. | 79 | M. BEARD |
J. GLEESON |
MARK BEARD | ASN | 2:47:15.3 | +19.9 | +32:09.1 | |
| 23. | 77 | J. STILLING |
D. STEPHENS |
JOHN STILLING | ASN | 2:51:55.6 | +4:40.3 | +36:49.4 | |
| 24. | 69 | A. COPPIN |
E. KELLY |
ADRIAN COPPIN | ASN | 2:52:11.7 | +16.1 | +37:05.5 | |
| 25. | 78 | P. DUNN |
D. NEAGLE |
PETER DUNN | RC2 | 2:55:20.0 | +3:08.3 | +40:13.8 | |
| 26. | 74 | A. PENNY |
R. LLEWELLYN |
ANDREW PENNY | ASN | 3:05:39.0 | +10:19.0 | +50:32.8 | |
| 27. | 35 |  K. AL-SUWAIDI |
 M. CLARKE |
CULTURE & SPORT QATAR RALLY TEAM | WRC2 | RC2 | 3:12:31.7 | +6:52.7 | +57:25.5 |
| 28. | 34 |  J. SERDERIDIS |
F. MICLOTTE |
JOURDAN SERDERIDIS | WRC2 | RC2 | 3:12:49.1 | +17.4 | +57:42.9 |
| 29. | 64 | N. QUINN |
D. CALDER |
NATHAN QUINN | ASN | 3:27:53.5 | +15:04.4 | +1:12:47.3 | |
| 30. | 63 | B. REEVES |
R. GELSOMINO |
BRENDAN REEVES | ASN | 3:38:52.2 | +10:58.7 | +1:23:46.0 | |
| 31. | 81 | R. PINTER |
P. HALL |
RHYS PINTER | RC4 | 4:32:32.7 | +53:40.5 | +2:17:26.5 |
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