Volkswagen sweep WRC Aussie leg

COFFS HARBOUR (Australia) : Volkswagen couldn’t have asked for a better way to celebrate their second consecutive manufacturers’ title in the World Rally Championship as the German team made a clean sweep of Rally Australia podium on Sunday.It was defending champion Sebastien Ogier who spearheaded Volkswagen’s first ever 1-2-3 finish. The Frenchman, however, had to fend off his Finnish teammate Jari-Matti Latvala in a thrilling final day. Fast-improving Norwegian Andreas Mikkelsen completed the podiumlockout by finishing 1min:11.2s behind Latvala.

Only 6.8seconds separated the top two VW Polo drivers after three days, 20 stages and 315kms of competition. Ogier led the event over 13 stages including the entire final day but the battle was tighter than it appeared. Only Latvala and Citroen’s Kris Meeke were able to spend time at the front and the leader’s margin was never more than 11.8sec throughout the event and was once as narrow as 0.4sec.

The German squad’s dominance was emphasised by the fact that the manufacturers’ title has never been decided early (with three rallies to go) in the season since 1989. Jost Capito, director of VW Motorsport, turned emotional while dedicating the championship to the team’s mechanics and engineers. “It is easier to win a world championship than it is to successfully defend it. We are glad that we achieved both within two seasons of the team’s existence,” said.

Heading into the rally’s final stage, a 9.23-km power run where the top three get bonus championship points, Ogier had an eight-second advantage over Latvala who led the event for a brief time on Saturday before gifting it back to his teammate with a wrong tyre choice. Latvala stormed to win the power stage, but managed to cut down only 1.2s off Ogier handing the Frenchman his 22nd win.