NEWS: Volkswagen Motorsport and Sebastian Ogier Nail 3rd WRC Title 3 Round Early!

Congratulations to Volkswagen Motorsport and Sebastian Ogier – who sewed up their third WRC title three rounds early (just 77% through there season!), with Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia's win on the 10th event of the 2015 season in a thrilling Rally Australia also enough to crown them champs for the third time in a row!

VW's and Ogier's level of dominance and superiority is off the scale, and unprecedented in the sport. And whilst many feel such dominance is "boring" or "predictable" – we salute you here at Road HQ. It's an unreal achievement. Ogier has won seven from 10 events this season!

And Ogier has not put a wheel out of place for 1,000 of stage miles on the world's toughest roads all across the globe this year – easily his most impressive WRC season to date. That's some achievement when you see the stages up close, and the speeds these guys drive at.  

Frankly, like the rest of the rallying world, we are in awe. 

Since joining the WRC in 2013, VW has won literally everything there is win and has wrapped up the 2015 twin titles earlier than any manufacturer and driver in history. Unreal. 

Well done to you all from us at Road HQ.

Here's what they had to say after the event: 

“It has just been an incredible season,” said Ogier after the Power Stage – which he won to pick up three bonus points, by the way. “I think that was my best win so far. I didn’t make any mistakes. I have driven so many great rallies, but this here was probably my best.” A lot of superlatives in one statement, but there is no other way of summing up this achievement in words.

Jari-Matti Latvala had to settle for second place Down Under, and matched that result on the Power Stage. “Seb was simply the better driver at this rally, so I will have to be happy with second place,” he said after the finish. “I didn’t make any mistakes all rally, but I just came up short of winning here.” Jari-Matti will cope with the slight disappointment and attack again at this season’s remaining rallies – there is no doubting that.
The third of the Volkswagen trio, Andreas Mikkelsen, finished an impressive fourth. He was unable to stop the flying Meeke from claiming the third spot on the podium, but did finish third on the Power Stage to claim the final bonus point. “I am happy with the rally,” said ‘Mikkel’. “I think we put on a good show.”

Press conference quotesSébastien Ogier, Volkswagen Polo R WRC #1
“It is a fantastic feeling to be world champion again! I am overjoyed. The first World Championship title will obviously always be rather special, but the emotions are always overwhelming every time. It was an incredibly intense battle here in Australia. Because the gap to Kris and Jari-Matti was so small all weekend, I had no time at all to even think about the title. Even this morning I only had one approach: flat-out. I am now just really happy that Julien and I have won our third title with a victory. It will probably take a while for what we have achieved together with our fantastic team over the past three years to really sink in. The fact that we also won the Manufacturers’ title with the Volkswagen team is obviously the icing on the cake.”

Jari-Matti Latvala, Volkswagen Polo R WRC #2
“Winning all three titles here make this a fantastic day for the Volkswagen team. I am really happy to have done my bit towards this great success. I tried everything again today and kept on pushing right to the final stage, even with a cracked windscreen. Unfortunately we came up just short and I will have to settle for second place today. On the other hand, I have extended my advantage over third place in the overall standings. Congratulations to my team-mate Sébastien Ogier. He deservedly won the rally and is also a deserved world champion.”

Andreas Mikkelsen, Volkswagen Polo R WRC #9
“I am totally happy with our performance and had a really good rally. We did our very best right from the word go – in the end we had to ‘settle’ for fourth place. Based on the actual driving alone, we could even have finished third, as we more than made up the 8.8 seconds we trailed Kris Meeke by coming into the final 70 kilometres or so. However, we were handed a ten-second penalty for checking in too late ahead of the midday service on Sunday. That was too much for us to make up, although we had a really good attempt. It is a shame that we ultimately missed out on our seventh podium of the season by just 5.9 seconds – but we have strengthened our grip on third place in the World Championship. Looking back, I am generally happy with the Rally Australia and am looking forward to the remaining rallies in France, Spain and Great Britain.”

Jost Capito, Volkswagen Motorsport Director
“What a fantastic rally. What a dream result. And what a great achievement to have wrapped up all three titles so early in the season. The Volkswagen team excelled itself today. Our drivers and co-drivers had to pull out all the stops in order to finish on the podium here in Australia. Like the team behind them, they did a flawless job. You cannot be more proud of the entire team than I am today. It is always more difficult to defend a title than it is to win it for the first time. Defending it for a second time is an even greater challenge. The fact that our mechanics, engineers, drivers, co-drivers, physios and doctors, chefs and organisers have once again achieved superlative results and secured the WRC titles earlier in the season than ever before shows just what an extraordinary team we have. Everyone, without exception, is extremely motivated, and nobody ever takes success for granted. However, we certainly know how to celebrate – as we will prove today.”

Fast FactsThe Polo R WRC has been nothing short of impressive this year, proving once again to be the strongest car in the WRC field. The powerhouse from Wolfsburg has won 31 of the 36 rallies since making its debut in 2013. 467 stage wins in 668 special stages is an impressive for the 318-hp racer. In 2015, Volkswagen has so far won nine of the ten rallies with the Polo. And the season is still not over. Before the attention turns to the remaining three rounds of the WRC, however, it is time to celebrate. Cheers!