Hayden Paddon wrapped up the first WRC victory of his career after topping Rally Argentina’s Power Stage by 11.2s.Having started the day with a lead of half a minute, Paddon saw his lead shrink to 2.6s after the two Sunday morning stages.
However, the Kiwi driver was untouchable in the final stage of the rally, easily beating Dani Sordo’s benchmark with Ogier only managing third and one extra point.
“No words, I gave that stage absolutely everything,” Paddon said after the stage.
“Unbelievable, I can’t describe it. All that homework has paid off. I didn’t think we had a chance – in the past the tight, twisty stuff hasn’t been my strength.”
Andreas Mikkelsen completed the podium ahead of Sordo, who salvaged two extra points by taking second in the Power Stage.
Mads Ostberg took his 18th consecutive point-scoring result in fifth with Thierry Neuville recovering from his Friday issues to take sixth.
Local driver Marcos Ligato, Rally Argentina debutant Eric Camilli and Henning Solberg were seventh, eighth and ninth respectively.
Jari-Matti Latvala stopped for repairs at halfway through the stage and failed to secure 10th overall, which went to WRC2 winner Nicholas Fuchs instead.
| Pos | Car No | Driver | Co-driver | Team | Eligibility | Group Class | Time | Diff Prev | Diff 1st |
| 1. | 20 |  H. PADDON |
J. KENNARD |
Hyundai Motorsport N | T | RC1 | 3:40:52.9 | ||
| 2. | 1 |  S. OGIER |
J. INGRASSIA |
Volkswagen Motorsport | M | RC1 | 3:41:07.2 | +14.3 | +14.3 |
| 3. | 9 |  A. MIKKELSEN |
A. JAEGER SYNNEVAAG |
Volkswagen Motorsport II | T | RC1 | 3:41:58.1 | +50.9 | +1:05.2 |
| 4. | 4 |  D. SORDO |
M. MARTI |
Hyundai Motorsport | M | RC1 | 3:42:10.0 | +11.9 | +1:17.1 |
| 5. | 5 | M. OSTBERG |
O. FLOENE |
M-Sport World Rally Team | M | RC1 | 3:45:49.6 | +3:39.6 | +4:56.7 |
| 6. | 3 |  T. NEUVILLE |
N. GILSOUL |
Hyundai Motorsport | M | RC1 | 3:50:22.4 | +4:32.8 | +9:29.5 |
| 7. | 81 |  M. LIGATO |
R. GARCIA |
Ligato, Marcos Sebastian | RC1 | 3:50:32.1 | +9.7 | +9:39.2 | |
| 8. | 6 | E. CAMILLI |
B. VEILLAS |
M-Sport World Rally Team | M | RC1 | 3:51:08.9 | +36.8 | +10:16.0 |
| 9. | 16 | H. SOLBERG |
 I. MINOR |
Solberg, Henning | RC1 | 3:51:41.4 | +32.5 | +10:48.5 | |
| 10. | 42 |  N. FUCHS |
F. MUSSANO |
Fuchs, Nicolas | WRC2 | RC2 | 4:05:35.7 | +13:54.3 | +24:42.8 |
| 11. | 88 | G. PADILLA |
N. GARCIA |
Padilla, Gerónimo | National | 4:05:41.1 | +5.4 | +24:48.2 | |
| 12. | 32 |  H. PTASZEK |
M. SZCZEPANIAK |
Peugeot Sport Slovakia | WRC2 | RC2 | 4:10:12.6 | +4:31.5 | +29:19.7 |
| 13. | 37 |  L. BERTELLI |
S. SCATTOLIN |
F.W.R.T | RC1 | 4:14:16.6 | +4:04.0 | +33:23.7 | |
| 14. | 34 |  A. AL-KUWARI |
 K. DUFFY |
Culture & Sports Qatar Rally Team | WRC2 | RC2 | 4:15:26.6 | +1:10.0 | +34:33.7 |
| 15. | 12 |  O. TANAK |
R. MOLDER |
DMACK World Rally Team | T | RC1 | 4:18:15.3 | +2:48.7 | +37:22.4 |
Story and photo: motorsport.com