Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia claimed an impressive third consecutive victory for Volkswagen Motorsport in the FIA World Rally Championship when they won Rally de Portugal this afternoon. Team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila were on course for second but a transmission problem dropped them back to third behind Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen.

 

In the FIA World Rally Championship, Ogier extends his advantage and holds a commanding lead in the Drivers’ Championship. Hirvonen moves into second, ahead of team-mate Sébastien Loeb. In the Manufacturers’ Championship, Volkswagen Motorsport heads the Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team, the rivals split by 14 points.

 

The final day of competition took in two identical loops of two stages but included the 52.30 kilometre Almodovar stage, which also ran as the closing Power Stage in which additional points are awarded to the fastest three drivers through this single stage. Here, Ogier claimed three extra points while Mads Østberg and Latvala picked up an additional two and one point respectively.

 

The day kicked off with drama for the Volkswagen crews, Ogier suffering with a slipping clutch and Latvala with a broken front diff. While Ogier fared better, Latvala lost over a minute and dropped behind a chasing Hirvonen. Further woes continued in the following long stage, where Latvala lost another three minutes as he limped through the stage in two-wheel drive. After repairs in service however, both crews powered back up to speed and claimed Volkswagen’s first double podium. Citroën’s Mikko Hirvonen claimed second, taking valuable points for the team after Sordo’s accident yesterday. Evgeny Novikov finished fourth with a comfortable cushion to Nasser Al-Attiyah. Andreas Mikkelsen ran well in his first competitive outing in the Polo R WRC and finished sixth. Mads Østberg won three of the day’s stages and eventually climbed to eighth after his day one roll.

 

The fifth round of the FIA World Rally Championship takes the contenders to South America for Rally Argentina (1-4 May).

 

Rally de Portugal – Final Unofficial Classification (subject to scrutineering)