Wolfsburg (15 November 2015). 26 podiums from 13 rallies, including twelve wins – the 2015 season will go down in the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) history books asVolkswagen’s most successful to date. Three-time world champions* Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (F/F) claimed their eighth win of the season with the World Rally Car from Wolfsburg. Andreas Mikkelsen/Ola Fløene finished third to round off a positive end to the season. This was their ninth podium of the year – only Ogier/Ingrassia rackedup more. The closing Power Stage went to Jari-Matti Latvala /Miikka Anttila (FIN/FIN) in the third Polo R WRC, who came away from an otherwise difficult rally with three bonus points – enough to secure second place in the World Championship. In extremely tricky conditions in the Welshforests, and whatproved to be a real mud bath, 15 of a possible 19 stage wins went to Volkswagen. This took the total to 504 of 717 stages since the 2013 season.
Mud marathon in gale-force winds: extreme challenges in Wales
The Rally Great Britain formed an extremely challenging end to the WRC season: gale-force winds, torrential rain and the typical, ubiquitous Welsh mud awaited the drivers on the 19 special stages. The 309.87 kilometres against the clock really put the world’s best rally drivers through their paces. The ever-changing grip levels meant the crews had to be on the ball at all times – despite marathon days with special stages from the daybreak into the night. The Rally Great Britain in North Wales also posed a challenge for the Volkswagen mechanics: Storm Abigail tore through the service park in Deeside, making life difficult for the Volkswagen technicians, particularly during the flexi service on Saturday evening.
The bottom line: the Polo R WRC’s impressive record
400 and 500 – Volkswagen celebrated reaching yet more milestones at the Rally Great Britain. With 34 of a possible 39 victories, the Polo R WRC remains the car with the highest win ratio in the history of the World Rally Championship. The 318-hp World Rally Car from Wolfsburg also racked up stage win number 500 in Wales. After three full seasons, Volkswagen has now won 504 of the 717 special stages since the Polo R WRC made its debut at the 2013 Rally Monte Carlo. Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia also passed a personal milestone: victory in Wales was the 32nd of their careers, the 25th in Volkswagen colours, and also yielded stage win number 400.
Podium regulars: Ogier and Mikkelsen
Podium finish number ten for Sébastien Ogier, and number nine for Andreas Mikkelsen: the two drivers, who ended the 2015 season with the most top-three results, once again flew the flag for Volkswagen on the podium in Wales. Volkswagen duos have cracked open the Champagne on the rostrum on 26 occasions this year – a new personal best for the team. Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia now have 45 podium finishes to their name, 31 of which have come with Volkswagen. Incidentally: during their three World Championship-winning years – 2013, 2014 and 2015 – they have not recorded a single third place. Andreas Mikkelsen has finished on the podium 14 times in the 25 rallies since last year’s Rally Sweden, including 13 times with Ola Fløene. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila have contributed eight podiums, including three wins, to Volkswagen’s impressive record.
Article source: www.volkswagen.co.uk