Volkswagen’s Andreas Mikkelsen is poised to win Kennards Hire Rally Australia after Sebastien Ogier and New Zealand’s Hayden Paddon hit trouble on the final day.
Mikkelsen and co-driver Anders Jaeger swept to a trio of stage wins edging Ogier and Julien Ingrassia by 0.6s on the morning’s opening Settlers Reverse (6.2km) test.
However, the complexion of the rally took a dynamic shift on the following 31.9km Bucca stage as drama struck contenders Ogier and Paddon.
Paddon was the first to hit trouble when the Kiwi made a mistake and clipped a bank which knocked his left rear tyre off the rim.
The 29-year-old limped through to the finish in his i20 WRC but lost more than a minute to Mikkelsen, dropping him from third to fifth.
Minutes later Ogier, who was on course to win the stage, suffered a spin in the final sector costing him 17 seconds, handing Mikkelsen a 22.2s lead.
Mikkelsen went on to win Stage 21 (Wedding Bells) by 0.2s from Volkswagen’s Jari-Matti Latvala with Ogier in third, gifting him a 22.7s lead for the final two stages this afternoon.
Drama continued to unfold with officials forced halt the Wedding Bells stage for 25 minutes when Eric Camiili rolled his M-Sport Ford.
Both driver and co-driver Benjamin Veillas walked away from the incident.
“I’ve never been so fast and so comfortable at the same time,” said Mikkelsen, who is edging closer to scoring a victory for Volkswagen in their final event.
“Things are coming together but there are still two stages to go.”
Meanwhile, four-time world champion Ogier believes his victory hopes are over following his mistake on Stage 20.
“Unfortunately we spun in the long stage this morning so the battle is over, but for sure we enjoyed the fight for two fantastic days,” said Ogier.
“Andreas has done a good job. The rally is not over yet but if he wins it will be a well deserved victory.”
The final podium place will be fought out by the Hyundai pair of Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul and Dani Sordo and Marc Marti following Paddon’s error.
Sordo is 14.1s behind Neuville, while Paddon is now a second further back in fifth.
“It’s gutting I would have loved to have been on the podium so will just focus on 2017 now,” said Paddon.
“I knocked the tyre off the rim, it wasn’t a big deal really.
“It was a bit unlucky for the tyre to come off like that and I tried to drive as best as we could on three wheels.
“The Volkswagens were fast and we were overdriving in places, but the moment wasn’t from overdriving really.
“It all started in recognisance really as on that corner we got a puncture from a rock on the inside so we put a don’t cut in the notes but that has pushed us wide.”
There was plenty of drama in the Australian Rally Championship title battle as rally leader Harry Bates saw his hopes evaporate.
Bates and co-driver John McCarthy suffered a puncture at the start of the Bucca stage. The deflated tyre caused subsequent damage to the brakes system on the Toyota Corolla.
The pair lost six minutes through the stage dropping them to third 3:06.4s behind leaders Mark Pedder and Dale Moscatt (Peugeot 208).
The Subaru of Molly Taylor and Bill Hayes is second and remains in contention to win the championship.
A repeat of the Settlers Reverse and Wedding Bells stages conclude Rally Australia this afternoon.
Results: Kennards Hire Rally Australia after Stage 21
| 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 | 2:39:16.0 | ||
| 2. | 1 |  S. OGIER |
J. INGRASSIA |
VOLKSWAGEN MOTORSPORT | M | RC1 | 2:39:38.7 | +22.7 | +22.7 |
| 3. | 3 |  T. NEUVILLE |
N. GILSOUL |
HYUNDAI MOTORSPORT | M | RC1 | 2:40:31.1 | +52.4 | +1:15.1 |
| 4. | 20 |  D. SORDO |
M. MARTI |
HYUNDAI MOTORSPORT N | T | RC1 | 2:40:45.2 | +14.1 | +1:29.2 |
| 5. | 4 |  H. PADDON |
J. KENNARD |
HYUNDAI MOTORSPORT | M | RC1 | 2:40:46.3 | +1.1 | +1:30.3 |
| 6. | 5 | M. OSTBERG |
O. FLOENE |
M-SPORT WORLD RALLY TEAM | M | RC1 | 2:40:55.3 | +9.0 | +1:39.3 |
| 7. | 12 |  O. TANAK |
R. MOLDER |
DMACK WORLD RALLY TEAM | T | RC1 | 2:42:15.9 | +1:20.6 | +2:59.9 |
| 8. | 31 |  E. LAPPI |
J. FERM |
SKODA MOTORSPORT | WRC2 | RC2 | 2:46:30.2 | +4:14.3 | +7:14.2 |
| 9. | 37 |  L. BERTELLI |
S. SCATTOLIN |
F.W.R.T. | RC1 | 2:46:59.4 | +29.2 | +7:43.4 | |
| 10. | 2 | J. LATVALA |
M. ANTTILA |
VOLKSWAGEN MOTORSPORT | M | RC1 | 2:47:12.3 | +12.9 | +7:56.3 |
| 11. | 42 |  N. FUCHS |
 F. MUSSANO |
NICHOLAS FUCHS | WRC2 | RC2 | 2:51:03.4 | +3:51.1 | +11:47.4 |
| 12. | 33 |  H. PTASZEK |
M. SZCZEPANIAK |
PEUGEOT SPORT SLOVAKIA | WRC2 | RC2 | 2:52:55.0 | +1:51.6 | +13:39.0 |
| 13. | 67 |  M. TAYLOR |
W. HAYES |
LES WALKDEN | RC2 | 3:00:18.5 | +7:23.5 | +21:02.5 | |
| 14. | 65 | H. BATES |
J. MCCARTHY |
NEAL BATES | ASN | 3:02:56.5 | +2:38.0 | +23:40.5 | |
| 15. | 68 | B. MARKOVIC |
G. MACNEALL |
BRAD MARKOVIC | ASN | 3:05:46.4 | +2:49.9 | +26:30.4 | |
| 16. | 72 | T. SULLENS |
K. NEWELL |
TONY SULLENS | ASN | 3:06:21.9 | +35.5 | +27:05.9 | |
| 17. | 76 | T. CLARKE |
R. PRESTON |
TOM CLARKE | ASN | 3:11:11.7 | +4:49.8 | +31:55.7 | |
| 18. | 70 | D. KING |
D. NICOLI |
DYLAN KING | ASN | 3:15:49.6 | +4:37.9 | +36:33.6 | |
| 19. | 62 | M. FABRE |
M. VILMOT |
SAINTELOC JUNIOR TEAM | WRC3 | RC3 | 3:18:37.2 | +2:47.6 | +39:21.2 |
| 20. | 69 | A. COPPIN |
E. KELLY |
ADRIAN COPPIN | ASN | 3:22:32.0 | +3:54.8 | +43:16.0 | |
| 21. | 77 | J. STILLING |
D. STEPHENS |
JOHN STILLING | ASN | 3:23:18.9 | +46.9 | +44:02.9 | |
| 22. | 78 | P. DUNN |
D. NEAGLE |
PETER DUNN | RC2 | 3:27:50.7 | +4:31.8 | +48:34.7 | |
| 23. | 35 |  K. AL-SUWAIDI |
 M. CLARKE |
CULTURE & SPORT QATAR RALLY TEAM | WRC2 | RC2 | 3:40:00.8 | +12:10.1 | +1:00:44.8 |
| 24. | 34 |  J. SERDERIDIS |
F. MICLOTTE |
JOURDAN SERDERIDIS | WRC2 | RC2 | 3:44:23.7 | +4:22.9 | +1:05:07.7 |
| 25. | 64 | N. QUINN |
D. CALDER |
NATHAN QUINN | ASN | 3:55:21.1 | +10:57.4 | +1:16:05.1 | |
| 26. | 63 | B. REEVES |
R. GELSOMINO |
BRENDAN REEVES | ASN | 4:05:35.3 | +10:14.2 | +1:26:19.3 |
VIDEO: Kennards Hire Rally Australia Stages 17-21
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