Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia kept their composure, stayed clear of trouble and extended their lead in the FIA World Rally Championship with a convincing 1min 07.7sec victory in LOTOS 71st Rally Poland, which finished at Mikolajki in north-eastern Poland on Sunday afternoon.
The French duo won 10 of the 24 special stages and maintained Volkswagen Motorsport’s total dominance of this year’s world rally series.
WRC win number 21 for the Frenchman also lifted him above fellow countryman Didier Auriol into seventh place in the all-time list of WRC event winners behind Sébastien Loeb (78), Marcus Grönholm (30), Carlos Sainz (26), Colin McRae (25), Tommi Mäkinen (24) and Juha Kankkunen (23).
“I think this has been a perfect weekend for me,” said Ogier, who claimed his fifth win from seven starts this season. “It is a big step for the championship. Really nice stages and a high speed all the time. It is not easy to win rallies this season. Andreas (Mikkelsen) was in a strong rhythm, but I knew if I carried this level of attack I would win.”
Norwegian Andreas Mikkelsen and co-driver Ole Floene pressurised the French crew for two and a half days before ceding defeat. Mikkelson’s consolation was three stage wins, a convincing 1-2 finish for the Volkswagen Polo R WRC and a useful haul of championship points. “For me it was also a superb weekend,” said Mikkelsen. “This result is very positive for myself and Ole.”
A frantic tussle developed on the final few stages for the remaining podium slot. Belgian Thierry Neuville held the upper hand at the start of the day and, deservedly, fended off a three-way Finnish onslaught to claim third position for the Hyundai Shell World Rally Team.
“It was a good weekend for us and nice to see all three Hyundai cars at the finish,” said Neuville. “I thank the whole team for doing a great job.”
Ford’s Mikko Hirvonen, Volkswagen’s Jari-Matti Latvala and Hyundai’s Juho Hänninen finished fourth, fifth and sixth, with Latvala – a winner of two rallies this season in Sweden and Argentina - climbing through the field after delays with broken suspension to set a string of late fastest stage times, but he missed out on fourth by just 0.7sec.
It was a disappointing event for the Citroën Abu Dhabi World Rally Team after Mads Østberg’s retirement from third place on Saturday. The team’s consolation was a gritty fight back by Kris Meeke. The Ulsterman climbed from ninth to seventh on the final day in his DS3 WRC at the expense of Kiwi Hayden Paddon and Norwegian Henning Solberg. The disappointed Czech Martin Prokop rounded off the top 10.
Robert Kubica returned this morning with a set of time penalties after yesterday’s crash and completed his home rally. “Yesterday we were unlucky cutting the corners in the grass to get a fast line and we hit a rock. I want to thank all the fans. They have been great. I also congratulate the organisers. They have done a great job.”
Estonian Ott Tanak cruised to a comfortable victory in WRC 2 and finished 11th overall, 1min 38.2sec ahead of Drive DMACK team-mate Jari Ketomaa. Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed Al-Rajhi admitted that this was the fastest rally he had ever taken part in and was delighted to finish third and 13th overall.
“This win has given me a lot of confidence and I really enjoyed it,” said Tanak. “Maybe I should have won in Mexico, but I did not have the luck.”
French driver Stéphane Lebebvre fended off the challenge from Ulsterman Alastair Fisher to seal maximum points in the JWRC category. “I am very happy for this win for the team and for Red Bull,” said the winning DS3 R3T driver, who earned his second JWRC success of the season. “Now I have 50 points in the championship!”