This page contains archived information and may not display perfectly

OGIER & INGRASSIA CLAIM 8TH VICTORY OF THE SEASON

15.11.15
Reigning FIA World Rally Champions Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia rounded off a near perfect season with victory on the final round of the championship, Wales Rally GB. A faultless performance by the Volkswagen crew saw them battle through wind and driving rain in the Welsh forests to claim their eighth win of the season, this time ahead of Citroën’s Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle and with 26 seconds in hand. Andreas Mikkelsen and Ola Floene finished third, giving the Polo R WRC 26 podium results in 2015, its most successful season to date.

In the FIA World Rally Championship, Ogier, Ingrassia and Volkswagen Motorsport wrapped up the titles earlier in the season, but second and third positions are now confirmed for Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila and Mikkelsen/Floene respectively*. In the all-important Manufacturers’ Championship, the Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team fought hard to retain second ahead of Hyundai Motorsport.

Today’s route was by far the shortest with four stages and 36.43 competitive kilometres, but driving rain and gale force winds once again added to the challenge of one of the most traditional events on the WRC calendar. Neither Ogier, Meeke nor Mikkelsen needed to push to the maximum through the closing stages, leaving Latvala to take a clean sweep of stage victories, as well as claiming the additional points for the Power Stage win. Mikkelsen added to his tally with points for second and Robert Kubica, who finished ninth overall, was third in this stage.

Behind the leading trio, Dani Sordo moved into fourth following the retirement of Ott Tanak, the Estonian off the road in the first stage. Sordo’s team-mate Hayden Paddon finished under 10 seconds adrift in fifth and local hero Elfyn Evans was sixth in the lead Fiesta RS WRC. After his problems throughout the event, Mads Østberg eventually finished seventh and Stephane Lefebvre moved one place higher, into eighth, in his debut outing on the event in a world rally car. Lorenzo Bertelli moved back into the top 10, following Tanak’s retirement.

In the FIA WRC 2 Championship, Teemu Suninen and Mikko Markkula took a surprise win. The Finns were behind Eric Camilli going into the final stage but benefitted when the Frenchman had turbo problems and lost nearly a minute. In the FIA Junior / WRC 3 Championships, Norway’s Ole Christian Veiby and Anders Jaeger took their first win in the category, but the WRC 3 Championship title was provisionally claimed by Quentin Gilbert and Renaud Jamoul, who also won the Junior WRC Championship earlier in the year*.

The FIA World Rally Championship contenders now take a well-earned break from competition but return to action in January when the famous Rallye Monte-Carlo marks the start of the new season.

Wales Rally GB – Final Unofficial Results

1.   Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia

Volkswagen Polo R WRC

3hr 03min 02.0sec

2.   Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle

DS 3 WRC

3hr 03min 28.0sec

3.   Andreas Mikkelsen/Ola Floene

Volkswagen Polo R WRC

3hr 03min 38.2sec

4.   Dani Sordo/Marc Marti

Hyundai i20 WRC

3hr 05min 53.3sec

5.   Hayden Paddon/John Kennard

Hyundai i20 WRC

3hr 06min 02.5sec

6.   Elfyn Evans/Daniel Barritt

Ford Fiesta RS WRC

3hr 06min 11.1sec

7.   Mads Østberg/Jonas Andersson

DS 3 WRC

3hr 07min 30.4sec

8.   Stephane Lefebvre/Stephane Prevot

DS 3 WRC

3hr 08min 40.4sec

9.   Robert Kubica/Maciek Szczepaniak

Ford Fiesta RS WRC

3hr 09min 24.7sec

10. Lorenzo Bertelli/Lorenzo Granai

Ford Fiestas RS WRC

3hr 11min 07.0sec

FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers (after 13 of 13 rounds)

Sébastien Ogier (FRA)

263 points

Jari-Matti Latvala (FIN)

183 points

Andreas Mikkelsen (NOR)

171 points

Mads Østberg (NOR)

116 points

Kris Meeke (GBR)

112 points

Thierry Neuville (BEL)

90 points

Elfyn Evans (GBR)

89 points

Dani Sordo (ESP)

89 points

Hayden Paddon (NZL)

84 points

Ott Tanak (EST)

63 points

Martin Prokop (CZE)

39 points

Robert Kubica (POL)

11 points

Khalid Al Qassimi (ARE)

9 points

Juho Hänninen (FIN)

8 points

Yurii Protasov (UKR)

8 points

Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT)

7 points

Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (QAT)

6 points

Sébastien Loeb (FRA)

6 points

Stephane Lefebvre (FRA

5 points

Esapekka Lappi (FIN)

4 points

Diego Dominguez (PRY)

4 points

Paolo Andreucci (ITA)

4 points

Bryan Bouffier (FRA)

4 points

Pontus Tidemand (NOR)

4 points

Jan Kopecky (CZE)

3 points

Nicolas Fuchs (PER)

2 points

Gustavo Saba (PRY)

2 points

Stephane Sarrazin (FRA)

2 points

Lorenzo Bertelli (ITA)

2 points

Jari Ketomaa (FIN)

1 point

 

FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers (after 13 of 13 rounds)

Volkswagen Motorsport

414 points

Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team

230 points

Hyundai Motorsport

224 points

M-Sport World Rally Team

181 points

Volkswagen Motorsport II

131 points

Hyundai Motorsport N

67 points

Jipocar Czech National Team

51 points

FWRT srl

13 points

Subject to the official publication of the results by the FIA.

Subject to the result of the appeal lodged by the Competitor of Car No.53 against Stewards’ Decision No.12 from Tour de Corse, Rallye de France.

Results also subject to the result of a complete engine inspection for Car No.1 on Wales Rally GB.