ROME (Reuters) - Hyundai's Thierry Neuville extended his lead in the World Rally Championship after beating M-Sport Ford rival Sebastien Ogier by a fraction of a second in a nail-biting finale in Sardinia on Sunday.
The Belgian went into the final 6.96km stage of the Italian event with 0.8 seconds to make up on the reigning champion, who had started the day 3.9 clear, and emerged triumphant with an advantage of 0.7.
The results remained provisional, with France's five-times world champion Ogier risking a penalty after he left the end of the penultimate Cala Flumini 2 stage without collecting his time card.
Neuville, who now has a 27 point lead over Ogier after seven of 13 rounds, took five bonus points from the final power stage with Ogier second and collecting four. The next rally is in Finland at the end of July.