Thursday 23 October 2014 22:30, UK
Norwegian driver Andreas Mikkelsen raced to victory in the opening super-special stage of the Rally of Spain on Thursday.
The VW Polo driver claimed victory over the 3.2km course, raced twice around Barcelona's historic Montjuic district, by 1.8sec ahead of team-mate Sebastien Ogier, with Belgium's Thierry Neuville 2.9sec off the lead in his Hyundai in third.
Ogier just needs to score one point more than team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala this weekend to defend the world title he won for the first time last year.
Latvala kept alive his world title chances with an impressive victory in the Rally of France last time, closing the gap on Ogier to 27 points with two rounds remaining.
The Rally of Spain continues on Friday with six stages.
