Norwegian VW Polo driver Andreas Mikkelsen won the opening super-special stage of the Rally of Spain on Thursday, the penultimate race in the world championship season where Sebastien Oger hopes to retain his world title.

Over a 3.2km course, raced twice around Barcelona’s historic Montjuic district, Mikkelsen finished 1.8sec ahead of team-mate Ogier with Belgium’s Thierry Neuville, in a Hyundai, third, 2.9sec off the lead.

Ogier just needs to score one point more than team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala this weekend to defend the title he won for the first time last year.

The French driver missed the opportunity to seal the championship in France earlier this month when mechanical problems in his Volkswagen were compounded by a time penalty.

That allowed Latvala to reduce the lead in the standings to 27 points with just a maximum of 28 available in Spain and in the season-ending event in Wales in November.

The Rally of Spain continues on Friday with six road stages.