Neuville successfully guided his Hyundai I20N through Sunday morning’s three asphalt stages as the Belgian increased his lead over Rovanpera to 43.9s.
Rovanpera was afforded the luxury of only needing to realistically navigate today’s four stages to wrap up a second world title, which meant he could engage cruise mode.
M-Sport’s Ott Tanak maintained third (+1m48.9s) ahead of Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier (2m07.2s), Takamoto Katsuta (+2m45.6s), Hyundai’s Teemu Suninen (+3m01.0s) and M-Sport’s Gregoire Munster (+4m14.6). Pierre-Louis Loubet held onto eighth (+10m47.9s) despite suffering a transmission issue.
The final day of the rally began under clear skies which meant crews faced much gripper dry asphalt, without any slippery mud on line.
Ogier kicked off the morning by winning Stage 15 (Böhmerwald 1 17.25km) by a margin of 1.8s from team-mate Elfyn Evans, who rejoined the rally after crashing out on stage 11 on Saturday.
"It's pretty dry and clean in there overall, some slippy sections under the trees where it's damp,” said Evans.
Rally leader Neuville was third fastest but he also didn’t need to push with nearest rival Rovanpera backing off.
Source: Autosport