Volkswagen’s Polo WRC rally car has won their first race of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) this year after achieving victory in the Rally Sweden. The 315bhp Polo R WRC driven by Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia , both from France -cruised the team to capture its first win right on its first race in the FIA WRC. The team managed to grab victory even after facing stiff challenges from strong drivers like nine-time world champion Sébastien Loeb of Citroën. By posting 11 best times from 22 special stages, Ogier and Ingrassia were able to lead the overall standings right from the start, maintaining their pace until the finish on Sunday afternoon. They braved through Scandinavian ice and snow and managed to secure victory in the end. Ogier set the pace for Volkswagen during the qualification round Thursday, when he clocked the fastest time. Loeb, on the other hand, was seven places behind Ogier. Loeb eventually finished Rally Sweden 41.8 seconds behind Ogier.
Volkswagen also grabbed a fourth place finish in the rally, with Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila, both from Finland, a great finish behind the wheel of their own Polo R WRC unit. Sébastien Ogier and Volkswagen’s wins at the Rally Sweden are bound to make their marks in FIA WRC’s history books, as Ogier’s eighth rally victory success is only the second by a central European at the Rally Sweden since 1950. Up until now, Rally Sweden had been won almost exclusively by Nordic drivers. Ogier joins Loeb as only the second winner of the Rally Sweden to come from outside of Sweden, Norway and Finland. Loeb was the first one to break the series of successes of Nordic drivers when he won the event in 2004. Volkswagen, who have never won the world championship, are making their return to the series this season.
The third round is in Guanajuato, Mexico, from March 7-10.
DRIVER STANDINGS – TOP 10
1. Sebastien Ogier (France) Volkswagen – 46
2. Sebastien Loeb (France) Citroen – 43
3. Mads Ostberg (Norway) Ford – 24
4. Daniel Sordo (Spain) Citroen – 15
5. Jari-Matti Latvala (Finland) Volkswagen – 14
6. Mikko Hirvonen (Finland) Citroen – 12
7. Martin Prokop (Czech Republic) Ford – 12
8. Bryan Bouffier (France) – 10
9. Thierry Neuville (Belgium) – 10
10. Juho Haenninen (Finland) – 8
