Ickx: Germans are best

If you want something done properly, you get Germans to do it. This is the view of Le Mans legend Jacky Ickx, who was present at Volkswagen’s FIA World Rally Championship launch in Monaco last weekend.

Ickx has driven for a huge variety of teams and manufacturers during his illustrious career, including Ferrari in Formula One, but the vast majority of his success at Le Mans came with Porsche; a manufacturer with whom he is synonymous.

“In motorsport everyone tries their hardest to do their best,” he said. “But it’s true that German manufacturers in particular always have an attention to detail and quality that leads to a lot of success, which is what you see in their road cars too. At Le Mans, for example, you knew that if you were driving a Porsche, that was half the race won already.”

German car manufacturers are globally acknowledged as the world leaders in the premium market, with an emphasis on reliability and quality of materials. This is what Volkswagen is hoping to carry through to its inaugural World Rally Car campaign in 2013.

The Volkswagen Group (which also owns Porsche) is currently the second biggest car company in the world, behind General Motors, in terms of manufacturing.

“Rallying is a huge challenge, but if you just look at the approach that Volkswagen has taken so far, it’s easy to see how serious they are,” added Ickx. “For me, there is no doubt that they are going to do the job properly.”