Hyundai's Hayden Paddon holds off Sebastien Ogier for first WRC win

Ogier had closed to within 2.6 seconds of Paddon's lead ahead of the final power stage, with the Frenchman closing in after storming through SS17, Mina Clavero-Guilio Cesare, 19s quicker than Paddon.

The Hyundai man then took the power stage win by 11.2s to secure his maiden win, beating Ogier by 14.3s overall.

The Frenchman's contention for the win was surprising after he ran third for most of the rally, as Jari-Matti Latvala initially led.

The Finn held a 14.5s lead on Saturday afternoon's SS14 before crashing out, .

Latvala's incident promoted Andreas Mikkelsen to third overall with the Volkswagen man consistently quicker than rival Dani Sordo, culminating in a stage win on Saturday and ensuring his best ever result in Argentina.

, after tying the opening superspecial with Ogier on the streets of Cordoba, but would finish fourth overall.

Mads Ostberg was fifth, opting to run a conservative rally on what is considered one of the roughest events on the calendar. He benefitted from Argentina's attrition and his fifth place never came under threat.

Thierry Neuville began the weekend admitting to a lack of confidence and battling an electrical issue before climbing through the order to sixth.

Behind him, Marcos Sebastian Ligato returned to the WRC for his home event and finished a highly impressive seventh, beating Henning Solberg to the position.

Eric Camilli to finish the rally. He did exactly that, but rarely showed strong pace, finishing ninth.

Latvala's Rally2 return and later power stage crash meant that WRC2 class winner Nicholas Fuchs finished tenth overall.

Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari had led the class for most of Saturday, before a roll on the afternoon loop allowed Fuchs into a commanding lead.

Britain's Elfyn Evans retired on Friday and fell out of contention, but he returned to win six stages across the last two days.

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