PoloDriver

Volkswagen Motorsport world rally championship drivers Sébastien Ogier and Andreas Mikkelsen both managed a top 10 finish at the outfit’s home round, the ADAC Rallye Deutschland, on 25-26 August. Ogier and co-driver Julien Ingrassia finished the event sixth overall, while Mikkelsen, partnered with Ola Fløene, completed the event around Trier one place behind. It was a particularly sweet victory for Ogier and Ingrassia, taking the best result for an S2000 car in WRC history, with their Škoda Fabia S2000. But the following Norwegians did well too: in the closing ‘Power Stage’, Mikkelsen and Fløene took third place and became the first Super 2000 car ever to claim an additional point.

At the wheel of his Škoda Fabia S2000, Ogier once again dominated the less powerful S2000 class over the 15 special stages covering 1110 kilometres in total. The Frenchman clinched eleven class-best times and was quicker than many other more powerful World Rally Cars. ‘I’m totally happy with the result because the Deutschland rally is one of the most difficult tarmac events on the calendar,’ said the delighted Frenchman. ‘In the vineyards and on the Panzerplatte stage, Julien and I found an almost perfect rhythm. More power would be nice – I can’t wait to return here next year with the Polo R WRC.’

Mikkelsen was also satisfied with his seventh place, marking his best result in an S2000 car in the World Rally Championship. ‘A fantastic weekend for our team. I tried not to lose too much on Ogier and I think my pace was good this weekend. The Michelin tyres for the asphalt stages of the WRC were new for me,’ remarked the defending champion and points’ leader of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC). A brilliant performance at the final stage around the Porta Nigra helped, where the Norwegian pairing were the first Super 2000 pilots ever to achieve a top three stage result and pocket that vital extra point.

German driver Sepp Wiegand, who was piloting the third Volkswagen car with Timo Gottschalk, was lying in eleventh position on his home rally, but was unlucky and was forced to retire with suspension failure on the 13th special stage. ‘An exceptional effort from our entire team and the three crews – all the boys have performed very well this weekend,’ said a very satisfied Volkswagen Motorsport Director Jost Capito. ‘We may have profited from the retirement of some prominent competitors in the WRC field, but that doesn’t take anything away from our performance. Ogier and Mikkelsen drove at a consistently high pace, and Sepp Wiegand also did a great job up until his unfortunate retirement.’