Volkswagen extends one-two lead in Poland

The world champion outperforms the youngster – Volkswagen very much set the pace on the second day of Rally Poland. The defending champions Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (F/F) clinched wins in five of Saturday’s ten special stages in their Polo R WRC. Their team-based challengers Andreas Mikkelsen/Ola Fløene (N/N) impressively scored two fastest times, but lost around a minute to Ogier/Ingrassia due to a few minor incidents. Nonetheless, they succeeded in defending their comfortable second-place lead, with just 49.18 kilometres left to go on Sunday. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila (FIN/FIN) in the third Polo R WRC lost a lot of time during the longest special stage of the seventh event in the current FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) season due to a damaged damper, but embarked on a strong catch-up in the afternoon. They are currently ranked sixth overall and trail third place by 25.1 seconds, keeping them within reach of a podium finish.

Sébastien Ogier, Volkswagen Polo R WRC #1

“The day began with a bit of a scare on a long stretch during the second stage. But after that, it was a perfect day for me and Julien. We managed to extend our lead in each stage and we now have a good buffer, among other things because my teammate Andreas Mikkelsen was obviously having some difficulties towards the end. But there are still just under 50 kilometres to go. And if it rains overnight, the conditions on the final day could be very difficult. All we have to do is make it to the finishing line without any major mishaps. It’s essential that we hit the right rhythm very quickly tomorrow morning. Fortunately, we are now in a position where we no longer have to risk everything.”

Jari-Matti Latvala, Volkswagen Polo R WRC #2

“I did everything I could this afternoon and I really attacked. We lost a lot of time during the first run because of our damaged damper, so after that we went all out to attack! Two special stage wins really prove what a fantastic job our mechanics did during the lunchtime service – our Polo R WRC was driving like a dream after that. We have now made good a lot of ground on the teams in front of us and we will try to maintain our high pace until we cross the finishing line. Every single point counts in the world championship.”

Andreas Mikkelsen, Volkswagen Polo R WRC #9

“Today actually started quite well for us. We had just reduced our teammate Sébastien Ogier’s minimal lead on us when I made a mistake during the second special stage. I flew across a crossing while driving on cobblestones, so I had to reverse, which cost me ten seconds. I then made another two minor mistakes, which cost me some more time. From then on, I had lost my rhythm. We also experienced a few problems with the brakes during the second run of the longest stage, so we slipped back even further. Sébastien’s time lead is now way too big for us to close the gap on the basis of our performance alone. He is, after all, the reigning world champion and he is using the same materials as us. We now want to continue to control our pace and secure second place. It would be a fantastic result for us to finish Rally Poland up on the podium.”

Jost Capito, Volkswagen Motorsport Director

“I’m very proud of the team’s performance today. Sébastien Ogier, Andreas Mikkelsen and Jari-Matti Latvala were the ones who set the standards today. Andreas and Jari-Matti Latvala unfortunately didn’t have the luck they deserved today. Based on a few minor setbacks, Andreas regrettably lost the chance to keep fighting for the top spot, as he did so brilliantly yesterday. And Jari-Matti ran into some difficulties in his endeavours to secure a podium spot due to suspension damage during the longest stage of the rally. But thanks to the outstanding work of the Volkswagen mechanics, third place is still within his reach. His catch-up performance this afternoon was an example of some great rallying. All three drivers will now need to remain focused right up to the finishing line tomorrow.”