WRC Spain: Volkswagen conquers manufacturers’ title

Volkswagen has won the manufacturers’ title in the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) with an outstanding one-two victory at the Rally Spain. That means all the WRC titles for 2013 will go to the car maker from Wolfsburg. Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (F/F) claimed the Drivers’ and Co-Drivers’ crown three weeks ago at the Rally France. The French duo went on to score an impressive win – their eighth this season – ahead of their team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila (FIN/FIN) at the “Rally de España”. As a result, Volkswagen has an unassailable lead in the Manufacturers’ Championship with one round still to go this season. Winning three titles in its debut year with the Polo R WRC is Volkswagen’s greatest motorsport achievement to date.

Volkswagen’s achievements in the 2013 WRC season are unparalleled. The German team clinched all of the titles in the top category of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) in its debut year – the Drivers’ and Co-Drivers’ Championship and the manufacturers’ trophy. No other manufacturer has managed to win a World Championship in its first year since the World Rally Championship began. Even in the history of Formula 1, no car maker has yet taken the title in its opening season through their own efforts. Volkswagen’s performance has exceeded all expectations. Originally, it was considered to have set itself ambitious goals by aiming for podium finishes in year one, round wins in the second year and championship titles in its third year.

The Rally Spain was the only round in this season’s WRC series to cover both asphalt and gravel. The Volkswagen Polo R WRC proved to be a great all-rounder in these unique conditions: 13 of 15 best stage times and 26 of 45 possible top-three times went to the World Rally Car from Wolfsburg. The all-wheel-drive triumphed seven times on the nine asphalt stages and on all six gravel sections. Since the Polo R WRC first lined up in the WRC at the Rally Monte Carlo, it has racked up 132 of the 215 possible best stage times – that’s 61.4 per cent. Sébastien Ogier has put in 101 best stage times single-handedly so far this year.

Posted below final results and other statistics of FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) Rally Spain:

FIA Rally World Championship (WRC), Rally Spain, final results
1.	Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (F/F), Volkswagen	3h 33m 21.2s
2.	Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila (FIN/FIN), Volkswagen	+ 32.9s
3.	Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen (FIN/FIN), Citroën	+ 1m 13.7s
4.	Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul (B/B), Ford	+ 1m 33.9s
5.	Evgeny Novikov/Ilka Minor (RUS/A), Ford	+ 2m 01.0s
6.	Mads Østberg/Jonas Andersson (N/S), Ford	+ 2m 26.0s
7.	Martin Prokop/Michal Ernst (CZ/CZ), Ford	+ 4m 55.8s
8.	Hayden Paddon/John Kennard (NZ/NZ), Ford	+ 6m 55.7s
9.	Robert Kubica/Maciej Baran (PL/PL), Citroën	+ 11m 14.1s
10.	Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari/Killian Duffy (QA/IRL), Ford	+ 13m 26.8s
FIA World Rally Championship(WRC), points standings Drivers’ classification
		points
1.	Sébastien Ogier	265
2.	Thierry Neuville	158
3.	Jari-Matti Latvala	144
4.	Mikko Hirvonen	126
5.	Daniel Sordo	117
6.	Mads Østberg	89
7.	Sébastien Loeb	68
8.	Evgeny Novikov	67
9.	Martin Prokop	55
10.	Andreas Mikkelsen	40
11.	Nasser Al-Attiyah	30
12.	Robert Kubica	18
13.	Elfyn Evans	16
14.	Bryan Bouffier	10
15.	Juho Hänninen	8
16.	Chris Atkinson	8
17.	Hayden Paddon	8
18.	Michał Kosciuszko	7
19.	Ken Block	6
20.	Jari Ketomaa	6
21.	Khalid Al Qassimi	5
22.	Sepp Wiegand	4
23.	Henning Solberg	4
24.	Benito Guerra	4
25.	PG Andersson	4
26.	Nathan Quinn	4
27.	Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari	2
28.	Oliver Burri	1
29.	Yazeed Al Rajhi	1
30.	Esapekka Lappi	1
31.	Romain Dumas	1
Manufacturers’ classification
		points
1.	Volkswagen Motorsport	382
2.	Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT	274
3.	Qatar M-Sport WRT	174
4.	Qatar WRT	169
5.	Abu Dhabi Citroën Total WRT	63
6.	Jipocar Czech National Team	57
7.	Volkswagen Motorsport II	40
8.	Lotos WRC Team	20