Before Rally Sweden kicks off next weekend, take some time to relive Volkswagen’s dominantion of Rallye Monte Carlo, where the reigning world champions went Ogier one, Latvala two and Mikkelsen three!
Category: Volkswagen
The Volkswagen Polo R WRC may have a new look but it’s still the dominant force in world rallying as the team’s record-breaking clean sweep of the podium at the Rallye Monte Carlo proved.
Sebastien Ogier again showed he will be the man to beat in 2015, taking victory by almost one minute ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala. While Andreas Mikkelsen finished third to make it a perfect result for Volkswagen.
In his one-off appearance for Citroën nine-time world champion Sebastien Loeb showed the world he still has blistering pace. Loeb set the scene by going fastest on the opening stage and taking the lead of the rally. He stayed there until SS7 when Ogier fought his way in front.
Loeb’s chances of victory ended after he hit a rock on SS8, which forced him out for the day. He rejoined under Rally 2 regs and fought back to finish eighth overall. The French maestro also won more special stages than any driver during the event.
Mads Ostberg finished fourth for Citroën. Hyundai’s best result came from Thierry Neuville and Dani Sordo, who finished fifth and sixth respectively. While Elfyn Evans was the best placed Ford driver in P7.
Rally Sweden is next up, taking place in mid-February.
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Volkswagen unveils 2015 Polo R WRC
Vokswagen’s WRC title defence starts next week when Rallye Monte Carlo gets underway and this is the car they will be using.
The most immediate change is the new livery, but underneath the skin the second-gen Polo R WRC has been given a thorough going over. The most notable technical change for 2015 is the introduction of steering wheel mounted paddles for changing gears; the old sequential lever gearsticks are no longer in place.
“The new Polo R WRC has undergone intense further development, both on the inside and the outside,” said Dr Heinz-Jakob Neußer, Volkswagen Board Member for Technical Development. “Not only does it look even more dynamic and sporty than it did before, but our engineers have also been working meticulously on technical innovations under the bonnet and have improved many detailed aspects of the package that has been so successful for the past two years.
“The focus of this further development was on efficiency, reliability and performance. We can hardly wait to see the new Polo R WRC in Monte Carlo and at the other twelve rallies on four continents.”
World Champion Sebastien Ogier and Jari-Matti Latvala will get their 2015-spec Polos straight away, while junior driver Andreas Mikkelsen will have to wait until the fifth rally of the year in Portugal.
In 2014, for the first time, the Volkswagen Group has achieved 10 million sales in a calendar year.
Across the group of companies a 4.2% increase in sales for the year resulted in 10.14 million vehicles being sold. Just 10 years ago the Group was shifting around 5 million units per year.
Volkswagen passenger vehicles make up the bulk of the sales, with the brand passing six million annual sales for the first time last year.
Audi sales across the globe increased by more than 10% and numbered 1.74 million.
Porsche managed 189,000 sales, up by a very healthy 17%, thanks in part to the launch of the Macan SUV.
Skoda reached a new high sales mark, passing 1 million sales for the first time. An increase of almost 13% on the previous year’s sales.
All this means that the Group’s Strategy 2018 is well underway to being achieved.
Following on from our Best of 2014 WEC gallery, we’ve trawled through our 2014 WRC image archive and picked out the best 13 pics from the 13 rallies.
And here they are!
Volkswagen entering Formula 1 is a story that’s been around for years—here’s one from 2001—and yet, so far, nothing has ever eventuated. Word from the BBC says the German giant is currently undertaking a feasibility study into a possible entry into the world’s biggest motorsport melodrama and that former Ferrari Team Principal and now Volkswagen Group employee Stefano Domenicali is calling the shots.
Like most other VW–F1 rumours there’s no real expectation for anything to turn this one into reality. And, fittingly, that seems largely due to a clash of egos. What else!
According to Eddie Jordan (no he’s not the ego involved here) Volkswagen boss Ferdinand Piech thinks Bernie Ecclestone is a bit of a tossbag and while both men hold their respective controlling roles there will be no Volkswagen entry in F1.
“The Volkswagen Audi Group is the second biggest car maker in the world and as such it needs to be in Formula 1,” Jordan declared. “But it will not enter it while the sport remains under the control of Bernie Ecclestone, who VAG boss Ferdinand Piech dislikes on a personal and professional basis.
“Martin Winterkorn, the chairman of the board of management of Volkswagen, is being groomed as Piech’s successor and he has always believed that F1 is a great platform for the group’s brands.
“I am told he privately believes VAG should be a part of F1. If VAG did come to F1, I believe it would be with their own team, with the car designed and made in Germany.”
Currently Volkswagen’s involvement with open wheel racing is limited to Formula 3. We can, in part, thank them for giving Daniel Ricciardo a pathway into F1. There’s a few other names on that list, too, including Max Verstappen, pictured above racing in the European F3 championship earlier this year.
The Volkswagen Group spends the majority of its motorsport cash on WRC, WEC (Audi and Porsche) and DTM (Audi). Any entry into F1 would likely end some or perhaps all of that high profile motorsport participation.
However, you might be surprised to learn outside estimates suggest VW spent €320 million on its DTM and sportscar programs this year, compared with a net outlay of €130 million for Mercedes, who swept the F1 world aside with a dominant season. In return the perceived advertising benefit for Mercedes has been valued at $2.8 billion in 2014 against a $30 million benefit for the DTM and WEC exposure gained by Volkswagen’s brands.
You’d reckon that’s enough to give Domenicali something to think about.
[Source: BBC]
So you’re carving through the mountains in your hot hatch, having a fun time and then some bloody upstart in a station wagon rocks up sticking his nose in where it’s not wanted. Except it’s not any old upstart and he’s not driving any old wagon.
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Volkswagen Golf R wagon revealed
Thank you Volkswagen. Thank you, for finally making a red hot version of the Golf wagon. This the the Golf R Variant, stuffed with the same 221kW/380Nm 2.0 litre four pot from the popular Golf R hatchback.
The cost of that practical 605 litres of cargo space (1620 litres with rear seats folded down) is just 0.2 seconds off the 0–100km/h time, which is quoted at a rapid 5.1 seconds. Full technical details are yet to be revealed but it seems as though the go fast estate will be available exclusively with a 6-speed DSG transmission.
Now on public display at the LA Auto Show there’s no word yet from Volkswagen Australia confirming the Golf R wagon will be offered for sale down under, but let’s hope that announcement is not too far away.
This is one seriously cool car!
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2014 Wales Rally GB in pictures
Will you just look at all that bloody mud! It’s the signature look for the Wales Rally GB and, for once, being first on the road was a nice advantage for rally winner Sebastien Ogier who made the most of the wet conditions before the stages became too rutted and dug up by all the cars.
There’s some great photos below and we trust you will enjoy your last gallery of rally pics for 2014. Until Rallye Monte Carlo… if in doubt, flat out!
Sebastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia have capped off a stunning WRC season with their eighth victory of the year at the Wales Rally GB. It’s the twelfth win for Volkswagen from the 13 race calendar and a season of success like this has to be savoured, for you can never expect it to be repeated.
“That is obviously the best way to end a season: with a win,” said Ogier after the rally. “We really had to go flat-out on Friday and had a close battle for the lead with my team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala. That allowed us to open up a big lead over the rest of our rivals.
“When Jari-Matti made a mistake on Saturday, it obviously completely changed the character of the rally for us. I just had to get the car to the finish line. However, that is anything but easy given the typical conditions here in Wales. All in all, it has been another magnificent season for Julien and me, with a fantastic team behind us.”
In perhaps his best achievable result in his final WRC start Mikko Hirvonen ended his career on the podium, a bit over 37 seconds behind Ogier. It was a great way for the popular Finn to say goodbye to his fans.
“I couldn’t really think of a better way to end my career,” Hirvonen said. “We had a great fight all through the weekend and to finish with the second place is absolutely fantastic.
“Today it was a bit emotional for sure. Before this morning I manage to be pretty on it and concentrate on the rally, but today it was a bit more difficult!”
Mads Ostberg finished third, meaning the healthy sight of three different manufacturers on the podium was a pleasing way to end the WRC season, dominated by Volkswagen.
Ostberg’s points proved valuable for Citroën and allowed them to claim second place in the manufacturers’ championship, just two points ahead of M-Sport (Ford).
Given their all-conquering season Volkswagen might have hoped the final event could end like the championship standings, with their drivers filling the first three places. But for some minor errors by Jari-Matti Latvala and Andreas Mikkelsen that might have been the case too. The Polos certainly had the pace in the muddy conditions, but not the consistency from the men behind the wheel.
Still, 2014 has been a great season for Volkswagen and we hope Citroën, Ford and Hyundai can raise their game in 2015.
The Volkswagen Polo R WRC has taken the rally world by storm. Since making its debut in Monte Carlo last year it has won 20 out of 24 rallies entered. Even with the resources Volkswagen is throwing behind its WRC team, that’s quite a remarkable achievement.
Heading into the 2015 season you’d think Volkswagen Motorsport would be confident its dominance can continue. According to Volkswagen technical chief Francois-Xavier Demaison that’s not the case at all.
“I am more nervous with the new car,” revealed Demaison. “When we started with the current car, we did not really have pressure—we had a three-year plan to be champions.
“The idea was to do the first car and then make a second step to improve it, but when we see the results we had with this car… it’s a bit more complicated now!
“We have to be better or at least as good. It’s really hard for us for next year.”
Perhaps adding to Demaison’s concerns is the fact Hyundai will have an all-new i20 WRC next season, whereas Volkswagen will be racing an evolution of the current car with up to 80% of the 2014 championship winning Polo R WRC to be kept.
[Source: Autosport]
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2014 Rally Spain in pictures
Rally Spain is the only mixed surface event on the WRC calendar. The opening day is on gravel, the remaining two days are on tarmac. It’s a huge test for the crews to work on the cars and make significant changes to setups during relatively short service stops. It’s also a big test for the drivers, who switch from cars with massive suspension travel and small brakes to firm riding track-day weapons with huge brakes.
The surface change played a key role in Sebastien Ogier’s victory, too, with teammate Jari-Matti Latvala struggling on day one, only to find his feet on the smooth tarmac roads in Catalunya. What was a lead of around 30 seconds after the first day was whittled back to a lead of 11 seconds by the rally’s end. Still, that was enough for Ogier to secure back-to-back world championships.
You’ll see from the images below that the dust on those gravel roads not only affected the outcome of the rally, but provided some truly spectacular images as well. Of note in Spain also, Ken Block took some time out from burning rubber to make one of his rare WRC appearances.