Volkswagen secures 2014 WRC title

With a fantastic win in Rally Australia, Sebastien Ogier not only inches towards his second consecutive championship title but also brings his team the Manufacturers’ title. With Jari-Matti Latvala and Andreas Mikkelsen coming home in second and third, Rally Australia was in fact a historic result for the German team as it was their first podium-lockout. This was the ninth victory out of the ten rallies so far, for the Volkswagen Motorsport team having lost out in the previous round in Germany. 

Latvala was up ahead on the second day with a lead of 4.1 seconds over Ogier, but lost out on some valuable time after he decided to run on dry tyres and it started to rain. Latvala wrapped up Day 2 more than 10 seconds behind Ogier. The Frenchman went into the final day with an 11.8second lead over Jari-Matti Latvala. The Finn did the best he could to pressurise him but in vain. The reigning champions kept his calm and finished 6.8 seconds ahead of the Latvala. 

“There was no better way to come back after Germany. It was so disappointing to offer the team so little at home, so to deliver the first Volkswagen 1-2-3 here is a great result,” Ogier told the official WRC site. 

With this victory, Ogier now increases his championship lead from 44 points to 50 points with three rallies in France, Spain and Britain left before the championship ends. The next round will be in France from running from October 3-5.