Sébastien Ogier and co-driver Julien Ingrassia were triumphant at Rally Sweden, the second round of this year’s WRC season. Besides capturing the overall lead in standings this season, the French duo will also go down in history as the first Volkswagen Motorsport team members to win a world rally.
In an event normally dominated by Scandinavians, Ogier and Ingrassia put on a star performance to best compatriots Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena – the current champions who will only contest another two rounds of the season for the Citroën Total Abu Dhabi team. Ogier, who took charge right from the very start of the event, put the cherry on top when he scored bonus points in the power stage right at the very end to edge Loeb in the championship standings.
Norwegian Mads Ostberg and Swede Jonas Andersson managed third in their Qatar M-Sport Ford Fiesta WRC. The event also included special stages that were previously a part of Rally Norway, which Ostberg took advantage of to finish ahead of Volkwagen’s Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Antilla.
“The win here was amazing but also a big surprise,” Ogier said after the event. “This is probably the greatest moment of my career. The Polo R WRC was perfect the entire time. The guys did a fantastic job of preparing the car. So much can happen in Sweden. The conditions in the snow are so difficult. Winning here, as only the second central European and ahead of the best rally driver of all time, makes me enormously proud.
Even though Loeb won’t contest the entire season, that doesn’t mean the nine-time and defending champion is taking it easy on the rest of the field. Despite charging hard on the final day to try and cut away at Ogier’s lead, Loeb could only manage seven stage wins while Ogier recorded 10.
“We didn’t get a good road position, then we changed the car set-up to try and improve things but that led to two mistakes on the first day and the loss of about 30 seconds,” Loeb said.
Standings
Driver’s championship
1. Sébastien Ogier
2. Sébastien Loeb
3. Mads Ostberg
4. Dani Sordo
5. Jari-Matti Latvala
6. Mikko Hirvonen
Manufacturer’s championship
1. Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team
2. Volkswagen Motorsport
3. Qatar M-Sport World Rally Team
4. Abu Dhabi Citroën Total World Rally Team
5. Lotus Team WRC
6. Qatar World Rally Team