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Fresh from Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila’s victory and its podium lock-out at last month’s Rally Portugal, Volkswagen Motorsport headed to Sardinia for the 2015 Rally Italy with emboldened confidence.

The sixth round of the 2015 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), Volkswagen Motorsport had nothing to prove but still wanted to win. World champion Sébastien Ogier did just that, taking victory ahead of Hyundai Motorsport’s very capable Hayden Paddon and John Kennard.

Lure of a hat-trick
The German outfit won the Sardinian-based event in both 2013 and 2014, so the lure of hat-trick was strong. The Polo R WRC crews started off the 394km event in fourth, fifth and eighth places after the preliminary shakedown run through, but soon gained ground. Sébastien Ogier and Latvala finished the first day on the dusty tracks in second and third places respectively, behind New Zealand’s Paddon.

Andreas Mikkelsen meanwhile was forced out of contention by striking a hole in the road on the ‘Grighine Nord’ stage which damaged a wheel rim and a rear shock absorber, as well as parts of the fuel system. After attempting to fix the malady at the roadside, the Norwegian and his co-driver Ola Fløene abandoned their efforts and rejoined the event under Rally 2 regulations on day two.

Gripping battle
The second day – the longest rallying day for 13 years – saw Frenchman Ogier stage a gripping battle with the plucky Haddon for first place. The young driver was finally surpassed on stage 17, with Ogier and co-driver Julien Ingrassia over two minutes in front by the day’s end. The Polo R WRC also took its 400th WRC stage win.

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Volkswagen Motorsport’s Jari-Matti Latvala finally broke his results drought at Rally Portugal (21-24 May) and won the fifth event of the season. He and his co-driver Miikka Anttila also paved the way for an historic VW one-two-three result.

Contrast in fortunes
Team-mates Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia finished second, while Andreas Mikkelsen and Ola Fløene stood on the third step of the winners’ rostrum. It was a Volkswagen Motorsport podium lock-out and a contrast in fortunes for the German team, who suffered a disastrous Rally Argentina which saw all three Polo R WRCs retire.

The Rally Portugal result marks the third time Volkswagen Motorsport has claimed all three podium positions since it started competing in the FIA World Rally Championship in 2013. The Hannover-based crews also took all the top spots in the Power Stage, and collectively became the first manufacturer to collect 122 points at one event.

First win since 2014
His Portugese victory was Latvala’s first win since 2014’s Rally France back in October. The sixteen-stage, 350km gravel event was reinvented for 2015, and took in some of the classic Portugal stages – such as ‘Fafe’ – some of which hadn’t been run since 2001.

Latvala started the event in third place at Shakedown, and led the standings by the end of day one, 11.1 seconds ahead of Citroën’s Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle. Ogier was a further 25.9 seconds down the table, while Mikkelsen was 4.9 seconds behind Meeke.

Stormed up the leaderboard
It was all change on day two, though as Ogier and Ingrassia stormed their way back up the leaderboard and completed the 165km of stages with a time 9.5 seconds behind their Finnish team-mates. Meek and Nagle were shunted down to third place, while Mikkelsen and Fløene sat in fourth.

Tyre choices proved critical and reflected the overall order of results. Latala and Ogier chose a mix of hard and soft compounds for the morning and afternoon loops, whereas Mikkelsen opted for soft Michelins for both sets of stages.

Nail-biting conclusion
Latvala led Ogier by 10.4 seconds going into the final stage, but the Finn finally took victory over the Frenchman by 8.2 seconds. The chasing Mikkelsen meanwhile was another 16.4 seconds behind. In a nail-biting conclusion, only 28.6 seconds separated the top three Volkswagen crews.

Latvala was ecstatic with his performance: ‘That was a very important win! Not just for me, but for the entire team. That was the right response to the poor result in Argentina. For me personally, it was important to get back in the points after my long lean period – and to do that with a win is awesome.

‘It was an exciting battle with Sébastien Ogier, who really put us under pressure. However, I resisted it at the crucial moment. Thank you to my team for their work and support when things were not running so smoothly lately. I am looking forward to the next rallies.’

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It was Johan Kristoffersson who put a Polo on the podium at the recent 24-24 May World RX of Great Britain, the fourth round of the 2015 FIA World Rallycross Championship. The Volkswagen Team Sweden driver cemented his championship-chasing form by finishing in third place at the iconic Lydden Hill circuit.

Top honours
The result follows his maiden win at the first round of the season in Portugal. Kristoffersson now lies in second in the Drivers’ Championship, 29 points behind former world rally ace Petter Solberg, who took the top honours in the UK races in Kent in front of a 15,000-strong crowd. Matias Ekstrom was second.

It was a doubly joyous weekend for Kristoffersson who became a father for the first time on the morning of the second and final day. ‘It’s certainly been an emotional day,’ explained the 21 year-old.

‘I really didn’t expect to be here today. We were 13th position in free practice yesterday because I just couldn’t find the pace. I adjusted my driving style for today and then had a good start in the final but Petter was just so quick! We had a really nice fight but I have to say third position is fantastic for the Championship, so I’m really happy,’ the Swede enthused.

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Round 5 of the 2015 FIA World Rallycross Championship will be held at the Estering in Germany from 19-21 June.

2015 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,

DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1 Petter Solberg, Citroën DS3: 112
2 Johan Kristoffersson, Volkswagen Polo WRX: 83
3 Andreas Bakkerud, Ford Fiesta ST: 77
4 Timmy Hansen, Peugeot 208: 63
5 Reinis Nitiss, Ford Fiesta ST: 61

2015 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,

TEAMS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1 Ford Olsbergs MSE: 138
2 SDRX: 132
3 Team Peugeot-Hansen: 110
4 Marklund Motorsport: 106
5 Volkswagen Team Sweden: 105

Toomas ‘Topi’ Heikkinen took his 600bhp Volkswagen Polo RX Supercar to a storming victory at the third round of the 2015 FIA World Rallycross Championship, the World RX of Belgium at Mettet on 16-17 May. It was the second time in a row the Finn has won the Belgian round of the series, as he also stood atop the podium in 2014.

The Mettet win sees Marklund Motorsport driver third in the drivers’ points table with 57 points. ‘I’m really happy, Belgium is starting to feel like home!,’ grinned an ecstatic Heikkinen. ‘I’m feeling really comfortable in the car now – it suits my driving style but I have to say that I am not alone.

‘My team are amazing’
‘There is a team of more than 20 people who helped me to win today – my team are amazing and I couldn’t have done this without them. The fight for the Championship is well and truly on and now we get ready for Lydden Hill next week and hope to repeat this all over again,’ he continued.

Heikkinen’s team-mate Per-Gunnar Andersson finished fourth in the same Supercar final as Heikkinen, which puts the Swede in seventh place in the overall rankings with 43 points. Round one winner and Volkswagen Team Sweden driver Johan Kristoffersson went out at the semi-final stage, as did fellow Polo RX driver Tord Linnerud.

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Ex-WRC champion Petter Solberg finished second overall in Belgium to establish a 22 point lead in the overall drivers’ standings over Kristoffersson. Ford Olsbergs MSE’s Reinis Nitiss claimed the third podium spot.

Remarkable pace
Elsewhere, 18 year-old Volkswagen Team Sweden driver Ole Christian Veiby showed remarkable pace on his debut with Volkswagen Team Sweden, claiming second place in the opening round of the 2015 FIA European Rallycross Championship.

The series now moves to UK shores for the World RX of Great Britain from 23-24 May at the legendary Lydden Hill circuit in Kent.

2015 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,

DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1 Petter Solberg, Citroën DS3: 82
2 Johan Kristoffersson, Volkswagen Polo WRX: 60
3 Toomas Heikkinen, Volkswagen Polo RX: 57
4 Andreas Bakkerud, Ford Fiesta ST: 56
5 Timmy Hansen, Peugeot 208: 50

2015 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,

TEAMS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1 SDRX: 102
2 Marklund Motorsport: 100
3 Ford Olsbergs MSE: 99
4 Team Peugeot-Hansen: 89
5 Volkswagen Team Sweden: 77

After a podium success at the Sasol Rally, Volkswagen Sasolracing was once again on the podium at the 16-16 May Secunda Motor Rally, the third round of the 2015 South African National Rally Championship. Once again, Gugu Zulu was the man responsible for German representation on the third step of the winners’ rostrum. Overall victory went to the Ford duo of Mark Cronje and Robin Houghton.

Second consecutive result
The second consecutive result for the Zulu, he was joined by co-driver Hilton Affray who returned to South African national rallying on the Secunda event. The first day saw Zulu and Auffray in the top five in three of the six stages, the duo appearing in the top four stage times in every one of the six stages. The pair’s best time was the second-fastest result posted in stage nine and by the end of the rally they were third overall.

An ecstatic Zulu commented: ‘The rally started on a strong note, with Hilton and I posting a good time in the first stage. We did lose a bit of time during the day, so started day two on the back foot. The rally was trying in places, but even with a big change getting to know a new navigator, we still got on the pace and posted times I’m very happy with.’

‘An amazing job’
‘Gugu has done an amazing job once again, he was really fast this weekend even with a new navigator – and that usually takes a while,’ said Mike Rowe, Head of Volkswagen Motorsport South Africa. ‘Considering he finished effectively just 2.7 seconds behind Giniel de Villiers, excluding the 30 second penalty, it is another very encouraging result from Gugu.’

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Fekken and Arries meanwhile built their pace during the first day, to the point where they were they were third-fastest on stage six and fourth overall heading into day two. The fourth Volkswagen Sasolracing Polo S2000 crew, Thilo Himmel and Armand du Toit, finished fifth in their matt black machine.

‘Well-oiled machine’
‘The Volkswagen Sasolracing team proved this weekend to be a very well-oiled machine, the servicing between stages was slick and organised, they certainly rose to the challenge and from a team point of view we are happy with the pace of the car,’ said Rowe. ‘Hergen has adapted very well to the car and just had a bit of bad luck in his first event. I’m confident he would have finished on the podium otherwise.’

The 2015 South African National Rally Championship will see the Volkswagen Sasolracing team head to Bela-Bela for the fourth round of the series, the Toyota Bela Bela/Toyota Tara Rally around Limpopo on 19-20 June.