2018 Rally Catalunya

Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul entered the round as the leaders of the World Rally Championship for Drivers and the World Rally Championship for Co-Drivers respectively. They held a seven-point lead over defending World Champions Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia.[10] Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja were third, a further fourteen points behind. In the World Rally Championship for Manufacturers, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT held a twenty-point lead over Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT.

In the World Rally Championship-2 standings, Jan Kopecký and Pavel Dresler led the drivers' and co-drivers' standings by fourteen points. Pontus Tidemand and Jonas Andersson were in second place, but they did not contest the rally. Tidemand was forty-one points ahead of privateers Gus Greensmith in the drivers' standings, while Andersson held a forty-six points lead over Jonne Halttunen in the co-drivers' standings. Škoda Motorsport II held a forty-twenty-point lead over sister team Škoda Motorsport in the teams' championship.

Junior World Rally Champion Emil Bergkvist led the World Rally Championship-3 drivers' standings, three points cleared of Taisko Lario. Denis Rådström was another three points behind in third. In the World Rally Championship-3 co-drivers' standings, Tatu Hämäläinen led Johan Johansson by three points, while Romain Courbon was slender one point further behind. In the teams' championship, ACI Team Italia led Castrol Ford Team Turkiye by sixteen points.

The following crews were entered into the rally. The entry list consisted of seventy-six crews, including thirteen World Rally Car entries, twenty-one entries in the World Rally Championship-2 and four in the World Rally Championship-3.

No.	Entrant	Driver	Co-Driver	Car	Group	Eligibility[lower-alpha 2]	Tyre
1	M-Sport Ford WRT	Sébastien Ogier	Julien Ingrassia	Ford Fiesta WRC	RC1	WRC manufacturer	M
2	M-Sport Ford WRT	Elfyn Evans	Daniel Barritt	Ford Fiesta WRC	RC1	WRC manufacturer	M
3	M-Sport Ford WRT	Teemu Suninen	Mikko Markkula	Ford Fiesta WRC	RC1	WRC manufacturer	M
4	Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT	Andreas Mikkelsen	Anders Jæger-Synnevaag	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	RC1	WRC manufacturer	M
5	Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT	Thierry Neuville	Nicolas Gilsoul	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	RC1	WRC manufacturer	M
6	Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT	Dani Sordo	Carlos del Barrio	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	RC1	WRC manufacturer	M
7	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT	Jari-Matti Latvala	Miikka Anttila	Toyota Yaris WRC	RC1	WRC manufacturer	M
8	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT	Ott Tänak	Martin Järveoja	Toyota Yaris WRC	RC1	WRC manufacturer	M
9	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT	Esapekka Lappi	Janne Ferm	Toyota Yaris WRC	RC1	WRC manufacturer	M
10	Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT	Sébastien Loeb	Daniel Elena	Citroën C3 WRC	RC1	WRC manufacturer	M
11	Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT	Craig Breen	Scott Martin	Citroën C3 WRC	RC1	WRC manufacturer	M
12	Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT	Khalid Al-Qassimi	Chris Patterson	Citroën C3 WRC	RC1	WRC manufacturer	M
31	Škoda Motorsport II	Jan Kopecký	Pavel Dresler	Škoda Fabia R5	RC2	WRC-2	M
32	Škoda Motorsport II	Kalle Rovanperä	Jonne Halttunen	Škoda Fabia R5	RC2	WRC-2	M
33	Printsport	Łukasz Pieniążek	Przemysław Mazur	Škoda Fabia R5	RC2	WRC-2	M
34	ACI Team Italia WRC	Fabio Andolfi	Simone Scattolin	Škoda Fabia R5	RC2	WRC-2	P
35	Hyundai Motorsport	Jari Huttunen	Antti Linnaketo	Hyundai i20 R5	RC2	WRC-2	M
36	Citroën Total Rallye Team	Ole Christian Veiby	Stig Rune Skjærmoen	Citroën C3 R5	RC2	WRC-2	M
37	Citroën Total Rallye Team	Stéphane Lefebvre	Gabin Moreau	Citroën C3 R5	RC2	WRC-2	M
38	BRC Racing Team	Pierre-Louis Loubet	Vincent Landais	Hyundai i20 R5	RC2	WRC-2	M
39	Tommi Mäkinen Racing	Takamoto Katsuta	Marko Salminen	Ford Fiesta R5	RC2	WRC-2	M
40	Lotos Rally Team	Kajetan Kajetanowicz	Maciej Szczepaniak	Ford Fiesta R5	RC2	WRC-2	P
41	Simone Tempestini	Simone Tempestini	Sergio Itu	Citroën C3 R5	RC2	WRC-2	M
42	Motorsport Italia	Benito Guerra	Borja Rozada	Škoda Fabia R5	RC2	WRC-2	P
43	Hoonigan Racing Division	Ken Block	Alex Gelsomino	Ford Fiesta WRC	RC1	WRC	M
44	Nil Solans	Nil Solans	Marc Martí	Ford Fiesta R5	RC2	WRC-2	P
45	Toksport WRT	Chris Ingram	Ross Whittock	Škoda Fabia R5	RC2	WRC-2	M
46	Marco Bulacia Wilkinson	Marco Bulacia Wilkinson	Fernando Mussano	Ford Fiesta R5	RC2	WRC-2	D
47	Volkswagen Motorsport	Eric Camilli	Benjamin Veillas	Volkswagen Polo GTI R5	RC2	WRC-2	M
48	José Antonio Suárez	José Antonio Suárez	Cándido Carrera	Hyundai i20 R5	RC2	WRC-2	M
49	Volkswagen Motorsport	Petter Solberg	Veronica Gulbæk Engan	Volkswagen Polo GTI R5	RC2	WRC-2	M
50	Toksport WRT	Henning Solberg	Ilka Minor-Petrasko	Škoda Fabia R5	RC2	WRC-2	M
51	Michel Sylvain	Michel Sylvain	Anthony Gorguilo	Škoda Fabia R5	RC2	WRC-2	M
52	Sports & you	Jose Maria López	Borja Rozada	Citroën C3 R5	RC2	WRC-2	M
61	Taisko Lario	Taisko Lario	Tatu Hämäläinen	Peugeot 208 R2	RC4	WRC-3	P
62	Enrico Brazzoli	Enrico Brazzoli	Luca Beltrame	Peugeot 208 R2	RC4	WRC-3	P
63	Louise Cook	Louise Cook	Stefan Davis	Ford Fiesta R2	RC4	WRC-3	M
64	Amaury Molle	Amaury Molle	Renaud Herman	Peugeot 208 R2	RC4	WRC-3	M
81	Escudería Osona	Albert Orriols	Lluis Pujolar	Škoda Fabia R5	RC2	N/A	P
82	Rhys Yates	Rhys Yates	Elliott Edmondson	Škoda Fabia R5	RC2	N/A	M
83	Jean-Michel Raoux	Jean-Michel Raoux	Laurent Magat	Citroën DS3 WRC	RC1	N/A	M
84	Eamonn Boland	Eamonn Boland	Michael Joseph Morrissey	Ford Fiesta R2	RC2	N/A	M
85	Fabrizio Arengi Bentivoglio	Fabrizio Arengi Bentivoglio	Fabio Salis	Peugeot 208 T16 R5	RC2	N/A	D
86	Henk Bakkenes	Henk Bakkenes	Cindy Verbaeten	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X	RC2	N/A	P
87	Zamudio Racing Elkartea	Efrén Llarena	Sara Fernández	Peugeot 308 N5	N5	National	M
88	Renault Sport España	Fran Cima Artime	Diego Sanjuan	Renault Clio N5	N5	National	M
89	RMC Motorsport	Roberto Rozada	Yeray Mújica	Ford Fiesta N5	N5	National	M
90	Zamudio Racing Elkartea	Mariano Parés Carrió	Pere Requena Palomares	Ford Fiesta N5	N5	National	M
91	Michael Kogler	Michael Kogler	André Kachel	Citroën DS3 R3T	RC3	N/A	P
92	Équipe de France FFSA Rally	Jean-Baptiste Franceschi	Romain Courbon	Ford Fiesta R2T	RC4	N/A	M
93	Tom Williams	Tom Williams	Phil Hall	Ford Fiesta R2T	RC4	N/A	P
94	Escudería Motor Terrassa	Jan Solans	Mauro Barreiro	Peugeot 208 R2	RC4	National, Peugeot Rally Cup	P
95	RACC Motorsport	Josep Bassas Mas	Manel Muñoz	Peugeot 208 R2	RC4	National, Peugeot Rally Cup	P
96	Escudería A. Ferrol	José Maria Reyes González	José Antonio Vázquez Barrán	Peugeot 208 R2	RC4	National, Peugeot Rally Cup	P
97	Gamace MC Competición	Roberto Blach Jr.	José Murado	Peugeot 208 R2	RC4	National, Peugeot Rally Cup	P
98	Escudería Berberecho	Álvaro Pérez Abeijon	Brais Mirón	Peugeot 208 R2	RC4	National, Peugeot Rally Cup	P
99	Escudería Drago Rallye	Julio Martínez Cazorla	Diego Corta	Ford Fiesta R2	RC4	National	P
100	MCoutinho Racing	Diogo Gago	Miguel Ramalho	Peugeot 208 R2	RC4	Peugeot Rally Cup	P
101	Hugo Lopes	Hugo Lopes	Nuno Mota Ribeiro	Peugeot 208 R2	RC4	Peugeot Rally Cup	P
102	Pedro Antunes	Pedro Antunes	Paulo Lopes	Peugeot 208 R2	RC4	Peugeot Rally Cup	P
103	Ricardo Sousa	Ricardo Sousa	Luís Marques	Peugeot 208 R2	RC4	Peugeot Rally Cup	P
104	Escudería Aterura	Iván Medina Herrera	Ariday Bonilla	Peugeot 208 R2	RC4	Peugeot Rally Cup	P
105	FMC-UCAV Racing Engineering	Alberto San Segundo	Juan Luis García	Peugeot 208 R2	RC4	Peugeot Rally Cup	P
106	Paulo Moreira	Paulo Moreira	Marco Macedo	Peugeot 208 R2	RC4	Peugeot Rally Cup	P
107	Nabila Tejpar	Nabila Tejpar	Max Freeman	Peugeot 208 R2	RC4	Peugeot Rally Cup	P
108	Luciano Bonomi	Luciano Bonomi	Laureano Grigera	Peugeot 208 R2	RC4	Peugeot Rally Cup	M
109	Gamace MC Competición	Oriol Gómez Marco	Axel Coronado Jiménez	Peugeot 208 R2	RC4	Peugeot Rally Cup	P
110	GC Motorsport	Abel Torrelles	Xavier Carulla	Peugeot 208 R2	RC4	Peugeot Rally Cup	P
111	Escudería Motor Terrassa	Miquel Labarias Cortés	Cristian Muñoz Guil	Peugeot 208 R2	RC4	N/A	M
112	GC Motorsport	Alberto Cotano	Andreu Pascual	Peugeot 208 R2	RC4	N/A	M
113	C.D. El Mentidero Racing Tías	Alexis Romero Hernández	Martín Domínguez Cedrés	Peugeot 208 R2	RC4	N/A	M
114	Luc Gellusseau	Luc Gellusseau	Charles-Antoine De Joux	Peugeot 208 R2	RC4	N/A	M
115	Philippe Gomez	Philippe Gomez	Gilles Combe	Peugeot 208 R2	RC4	N/A	M
116	Carlo Covi	Carlo Covi	Simone Angi	Peugeot 208 R2	RC4	N/A	P
117	Paolo Raviglione	Paolo Raviglione	Marco Demontis	Ford Fiesta R2T	RC4	N/A	P
118	Motor Club Sabadell	Anna Tallada Bayot	Laura Camps Trabal	Ford Fiesta R2T	RC4	N/A	M
Source:[1]

2003 World Drivers' Champion Petter Solberg participated in World Rally Championship-2 category with a Volkswagen Polo GTI.

The rally marked Volkswagen's return to the World Championship with a factory-supported team after the company withdrew from the category in 2016. Volkswagen Motorsport will enter two Volkswagen Polo GTIs built to Group R5 specifications in the World Rally Championship-2 support series.[12] They will be driven by 2003 World Drivers' Champion Petter Solberg and M-Sport regular Eric Camilli.[1][13]

Ott Tänak showed his speed once again in Spain. He pulled away from everyone except his teammate Jari-Matti Latvala, who set three fastest stage times during the day. However, an unexpected puncture cost the Finn around fifty seconds, leaving him fifth at the end of day 1.[14] Local hero Dani Sordo led Hyundai in second, followed by Elfyn Evans in third in a Ford Fiesta WRC. Nine-time world champion Sébastien Loeb stalled his C3 at the opening stage in Barcelona, but he managed to recover to fourth place overall, just half a second off the podium. Sixth-place Andreas Mikkelsen was unable to find his form in the morning loop, but a setting adjustment put him on a charge and allowed him to end the day ahead of defending world champion Sébastien Ogier, who was fastest in Shakedown and the 2.97-kilometer-long street stage on Thursday.[15] Craig Breen was in fifth before the final stage despite a spin, but the Irishman lost a chunk of his C3's rear wing and dropped to eighth overall. Championship leader Thierry Neuville didn't start well. The Belgian rolled his Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC at the Shakedown and damaged to the front left, the bonnet and roof.[16] Being first on the road, he was also struggling with his car's handling. He eventually finished the day nearly one minute off the lead in ninth overall ahead of Esapekka Lappi, who slid off the road in the morning and spun later on.[14]

Tyre choice was crucial on day 2. Toyota duo Ott Tänak and Jari-Matti Latvala chose full wet tyres for the morning loop and set brilliant pace. Despite their tyre choices, rally leader Tänak plunged to eighth after changing a front-left punctured tyre cost them about two minutes of time, which made local hero Dani Sordo the new rally leader.[17] Stage conditions changed in the afternoon, meaning crews who chose wet tyres unable to match the pace set by those who used slick tyres. Championship leader Thierry Neuville benefited from slicks, finishing the day in fifth, 12.7 seconds off the lead. Teammate Sordo didn't have a good run. Although he made the same choice as Neuville, he encountered muddy roads due to being lower in the running order, which dropped him down to sixth.[18]

After the chaotic leg 2, Latvala led the rally, just 4.7 seconds ahead of defending world champion Sébastien Ogier, who took his chance with wet weather tyres in the afternoon and gained three places. Nine-time world champion Sébastien Loeb was 3.3 seconds further behind, edging Elfyn Evans by 1.8 seconds. Hyundai's Neuville and Sordo ended in fifth and sixth respectively. The top six crews were separated by just twenty seconds. Esapekka Lappi completed the day in seventh after a lurid sixth-gear spin, followed by early leader Tänak. Craig Breen had two spins in the day and finished ahead of Andreas Mikkelsen in tenth.

Choosing the hard compound tyre, Sébastien Loeb charged into the lead and eventually won his first rally since 2013 Rally Argentina. This was also Citroën's first rally victory of the season.[19] Defending world champion Sébastien Ogier found something extra in his Ford Fiesta WRC and completed the rally in second with four additional Power Stage points. The Frenchman will go to Rally Australia as the championship leader. Teammate Elfyn Evans also found his form in the rally and successfully held the Hyundai drivers Thierry Neuville — who suffered an unexpected puncture caused by a stone at the last few kilometers of the event — and Dani Sordo behind to snatch his second podium finish of the year. Jari-Matti Latvala was leading, but another puncture in the second-last stage pushed him down to sixth. He eventually finished the rally in eighth after giving positions to his title contender teammate Ott Tänak and Esapekka Lappi respectively, with Craig Breen and Andreas Mikkelsen completing the top ten finishers.

The Power stage was a 14.50 km stage at the end of the rally. Additional World Championship points were awarded to the five fastest crews.

Pos.	Driver	Co-driver	Car	Time	Diff.	Pts.
1	Ott Tänak	Martin Järveoja	Toyota Yaris WRC	8:02.5	0.0	5
2	Sébastien Ogier	Julien Ingrassia	Ford Fiesta WRC	8:04.6	+2.0	4
3	Sébastien Loeb	Daniel Elena	Citroën C3 WRC	8:05.3	+2.8	3
4	Elfyn Evans	Daniel Barritt	Ford Fiesta WRC	8:05.7	+3.1	2
5	Dani Sordo	Carlos del Barrio	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	8:07.2	+4.6	1

The following crews were given time penalties during the rally.

Stage	No.	Driver	Co-driver	Entrant	Car	Class	Reason	Penalty
SS1	114	Luc Gellusseau	Charles-Antoine De Joux	Luc Gellusseau	Peugeot 208 R2	N/A	1 minute early	1:00
SS2	114	Luc Gellusseau	Charles-Antoine De Joux	Luc Gellusseau	Peugeot 208 R2	N/A	1 minute late	0:10
SS4	62	Enrico Brazzoli	Luca Beltrame	Enrico Brazzoli	Peugeot 208 R2	WRC-3	2 minutes late	0:20
SS4	104	Escudería Aterura	Iván Medina Herrera	Ariday Bonilla	Peugeot 208 R2	Peugeot Rally Cup	1 minute late	0:10
SS4	105	Alberto San Segundo	Juan Luis García	FMC-UCAV Racing Engineering	Peugeot 208 R2	Peugeot Rally Cup	1 minute late	0:10
SS5	63	Louise Cook	Stefan Davis	Louise Cook	Ford Fiesta R2	WRC-3	15 minutes late	2:30
SS5	83	Jean-Michel Raoux	Laurent Magat	Jean-Michel Raoux	Citroën DS3 WRC	N/A	1 minute late	0:10
SS5	116	Carlo Covi	Simone Angi	Carlo Covi	Peugeot 208 R2	N/A	1 minute late	0:10
SS6	89	Roberto Rozada	Yeray Mújica	RMC Motorsport	Ford Fiesta N5	National	1 minute late	0:10
SS6	95	Josep Bassas Mas	Manel Muñoz	RACC Motorsport	Peugeot 208 R2	National, Peugeot Rally Cup	2 minutes late	0:20
SS7	89	Roberto Rozada	Yeray Mújica	RMC Motorsport	Ford Fiesta N5	National	15 minutes late	2:30
SS7	92	Jean-Baptiste Franceschi	Romain Courbon	Équipe de France FFSA Rally	Ford Fiesta R2T	N/A	2 minutes late	0:20
SS7	98	Álvaro Pérez Abeijon	Brais Mirón	Escudería Berberecho	Peugeot 208 R2	National, Peugeot Rally Cup	5 minutes late	0:50
SS7	116	Carlo Covi	Simone Angi	Carlo Covi	Peugeot 208 R2	N/A	2 minutes late	0:20
SS10	39	Tommi Mäkinen Racing	Takamoto Katsuta	Marko Salminen	Ford Fiesta R5	WRC-2	24 minutes late	4:00
SS13	52	Jose Maria López	Borja Rozada	Sports & you	Citroën C3 R5	WRC-2	8 minutes late	1:20
SS15	84	Eamonn Boland	Michael Joseph Morrissey	Eamonn Boland	Ford Fiesta R2	N/A	1 minute early	1:00
SS15	85	Fabrizio Arengi Bentivoglio	Fabio Salis	Fabrizio Arengi Bentivoglio	Peugeot 208 T16 R5	N/A	1 minute late	1:00
SS15	116	Carlo Covi	Simone Angi	Carlo Covi	Peugeot 208 R2	N/A	1 minute early	1:00
SS16	107	Nabila Tejpar	Max Freeman	Nabila Tejpar	Peugeot 208 R2	Peugeot Rally Cup	1 minute late	0:10

The following crews retired from the event. Under Rally2 regulations, they were eligible to re-enter the event starting from the next leg. Crews that re-entered were given an additional time penalty.