FEB 10 — Volkswagen moves to the top of the 2014 FIA World Rally Championship after taking a one-two victory at the Rally of Sweden over the weekend.
Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila (FIN/FIN) and Andreas Mikkelsen/Mikko Markkula (N/FIN) not only clinched a frenetically celebrated one-two, but also put on an extremely gripping duel for the fans. In difficult conditions at the Rally Sweden – thawing temperatures, snow and rain made for a difficult combination – the Polo R WRC proved to be the fastest car for the second time in a row. In the process, the Polo WRC scored 43 FTD’s (Fastest Time of Day) in the 69 stages.
The team’s Nordic drivers – Jari-Matti Latvala and Andreas Mikkelsen – were embroiled in a spectacular duel for long periods of the rally, scrapping for every fraction of a second. Latvala celebrated his ninth WRC victory, the third at the Rally Sweden and the second in Volkswagen colours – moving to the top of the Drivers’ Championship in the process. World Champions Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (F/F) ended the Rally Sweden in sixth place after a mighty comeback, having previously dropped back to 20th overall following a driver error.
“We are delighted that Jari-Matti Latvala’s fine performance this weekend has paid dividends,” said Dr. Heinz-Jakob Neußer, Volkswagen Board Member for Technical Development. “This win was fully deserved and the result of some intelligent driving. Andreas Mikkelsen – the junior member of our team – showed in the trickiest of conditions that he has the potential to compete with the best in the world. Sébastien Ogier was a bit unfortunate with his slip-up. Despite this, he was once again the man to beat this weekend, claiming ten stage wins.”
After the victory at Rally Sweden, Volkswagen leads the Manufacturers’ Championship after the second win of the year. The works team, consisting of Sébastien Ogier and Jari-Matti Latvala, currently has 72 points to its name – 16 more than Citroën and 50 ahead of M-Sport-Ford.
Jari-Matti Latvala, Volkswagen Polo R WRC#2, said, “It’s amazing to have won the Rally Sweden for the third time. This victory is especially important to me as I won my first ever WRC rally here in 2008. Clinching the victory was no easy task, the difficult conditions and solid times from my team-mates meant that Miikka and I had concentrate fully and give it our best. Due to the thawing snow we drove over a lot of gravel and had to be shrewd when it came to sparing the tyres. Andreas Mikkelsen didn’t make it easy yesterday, he drove a strong rally and fully deserves to be on the podium. It was brilliant that we were allowed to fight in out fairly and weren’t obliged to bow to team orders and is unique in this format. It’s not down to this that I feel very content at Volkswagen.”
