The crews of Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia and Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila managed to successfully defend their title, taking first and second place in Australia at record pace. In the last 25 years, the title holder has not been decided so quickly. The great result of the team was completed by the crew of Andreas Mikkelsen/Ola Fløene in the third Polo R WRC car . All three crews are also in the top three places in the World Drivers' Championship standings. Ogier and Latvala will go head-to-head in the remaining three contests to win the world title.
Australia's triple victory was the first triple World Rally Championship triumph in the history of a Volkswagen team. Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia claimed Polo R WRC's 19th triumph in his 23rd start. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila added to Wolfsburg's 315 hp WRC competition car's successful record with a 35th podium since its debut at Rallye Monte Carlo 2013, Andreas Mikkelsen/Ola Fløene thirty-sixth.
The road to historic success was anything but a walk in the park. Rally Australia places extraordinary demands on drivers and equipment with very technical sections on winding roads in the forests of New South Wales on the one hand and fast sections in open countryside on the other. The ever-changing gravel surface – from rough and coarse-grained sharp-edged gravel to smooth and clayey soil – along with the constant transitions between light and shadow, made work difficult for both riders and navigators. In 20 special stages, the WRC cars covered a distance of 302.26 kilometers in a race against time. The longest and most demanding special stage "Nambucca", with a marathon length of 48.92 kilometers, led through forests with steep climbs, through farms and narrow wooden bridges.
World Champion* after just three quarters of the season – the only time in the history of the FIA WRC World Rally Championship that a manufacturer has won the constructors' standings before Volkswagen in 2014. After nine out of ten possible wins so far this season, six of which were double wins, already nobody can prevent the Volkswagen brand from successfully defending the title. Drivers Ogier and Latvala won the constructors' title for the team from Wolfsburg already in 2013 – with the largest margin in the history of the World Rally Championship (145 points). Volkswagen will enter the remaining races of this season in France, Spain and Great Britain with a lead of 194 points so far.
It was already clear before the Rally Australia that the title of world rally champion in the drivers' rating would be decided between the three drivers of the Volkswagen team, Sébastien Ogier, Jari-Matti Latvala and Andreas Mikkelsen. After the result of the tenth event in Australia, the number of adepts narrowed from three to two. Although Andreas Mikkelsen significantly increased his lead over fourth place, he no longer has a chance to enter the fight for the title. This year's world champion will be decided by a duel between the biggest rivals to date: Sébastien Ogier vs. Jari-Matti Latvala. Their duel has already ranked among the Top Ten of the closest World Rally Championship results three times. In 2011, Ogier beat Latvala in Jordan by 0.2 seconds. In 2010, Latvala finished just 2.4 seconds ahead of Ogier in New Zealand. The closest result since both started in Volkswagen colors was achieved in this year's Rally Finland, in which Latvala celebrated victory over Ogier with a lead of 3.6 seconds. In Australia, the difference between the world champion and his challenger was only 6.8 seconds.
The Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila crew secured three extra points in the standings of the World Rally Championship by winning the Powerstage , in which additional points are awarded to the top three drivers. Second place was taken and two championship points were won by their colleagues Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia. The pair of Volkswagen crews have scored 16 victories and a total of 39 additional points in 22 Powerstage special stages in the past two years.
FIA World Rally Championship WRC (World Rally Championship), Rally Australia – final results
01. Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (F/F), Volkswagen 2:53.18.0 h
02. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila (FIN/FIN), Volkswagen + 6.8 s
03. Andreas Mikkelsen/Ola Fløene (N/N), Volkswagen + 1.18.0 min
04. Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle (GB/IRL), Citroën + 1.44.0 min
05. Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen (FIN/FIN), Ford + 1.53.6 min
06. Hayden Paddon/John Kennard (NZ/NZ), Hyundai + 2.56.2 min
07. Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul (B/B), Hyundai + 4.28.2 min
08. Elfyn Evans/Daniel Barritt (GB/GB), Ford + 5.10.0 min
09. Robert Kubica/Maciej Szczepaniak (PL/PL), Ford + 6.39.8 min
10. Chris Atkinson/Stephane Prevot (AUS/B), Hyundai + 9.29.4 min
Current standings of the FIA World Rally Championship WRC (World Rally Championship)*
Rating of riders
1. Sébastien Ogier, 214 points; 2. Jari-Matti Latvala, 164; 3. Andreas Mikkelsen, 125; 4. Mikko Hirvonen, 83; 5. Thierry Neuville, 79; 6. Mads Østberg, 74; 7. Chris Meeke, 67; 8. Elfyn Evans, 61; 9. Martin Prokop, 37; 10. Henning Solberg, 26; 11. Juho Hänninen, 20; 12. Bryan Bouffier, 18; 13. Dani Sordo, 18; 14. Hayden Paddon, 16; 15. Robert Kubica, 14; 16. Ott Tänak, 11; 17. Benito Guerra, 8; 18. Chris Atkinson, 7; 19. Pontus Tidemand, 6; 20. Jaroslav Melichárek, 4; 21. Dennis Kuipers, 4; 22. Nasser Al-Attiyah, 3; 23. Lorenzo Bertelli, 2; 24. Matteo Gamba, 2; 25. Craig Breen, 2; 26. Yuri Protasov, 2; 27. Jari Ketomaa, 1; 28. Karl Kruuda, 1; 29. Khalid Al-Qassimi, 1; 30. Julien Maurin, 0.
Evaluation of constructors
1. Volkswagen Motorsport, 348 points; 2. Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT, 154; 3. M-Sport, 146; 4. Hyundai Motorsport, 141; 5. Volkswagen Motorsport II, 109; 6. Jipocar Czech National Team, 40; 7. RK M-Sport WRT, 25; 8. Hyundai Motorsport N, 22.
Source: Volkswagen
