Reigning FIA World Rally Champions Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia racked up their fifth victory of the season today when they won LOTOS Rally Poland on its return to the series for the first time since 2009. The French duo have diced for honours throughout the event with Polo R WRC team-mates Andreas Mikkelsen and Ola Floene but pulled clear last night, paving the way for their 21st world rally victory. Behind Mikkelsen, Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul picked up the final podium position, their second of the season with the new Hyundai i20 WRC.

  

In the FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers, Ogier once again extends his advantage and takes a 50 point lead at the mid-point of the season. Jari-Matti Latvala maintains second and Mikkelsen climbs into third position, giving Volkswagen drivers a one-two-three at the top of the leaderboard. In the Manufacturers’ Championship, the German marque heads the Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team by 147 points.

  

Today’s route took in just four stages and 49.18 competitive kilometres, the event closing with the 14.90 kilometre Power Stage where additional points are awarded to the fastest three drivers. Here, Volkswagen drivers again took the honours with Ogier, Mikkelsen and Latvala claiming the extra Championship points. While only a short day of competition, battles continue to rage across the leaderboard with crews fighting for third, fourth and fifth positions. Neuville managed to maintain third but both Mikko Hirvonen and Latvala pushed hard, Latvala ultimately missing out on fourth position by a mere seven-tenths of a second. Juho Hänninen ran well in the second i20 WRC and finished a close sixth. Kris Meeke endured a disappointing event but nevertheless climbed to seventh, inching ahead of Hayden Paddon in the penultimate stage. Henning Solberg and Martin Prokop rounded off the top 10. Local hero Robert Kubica re-joined today, delighting thousands of fans out on the stages; he finished 20th.

  

The FIA World Rally Championship now takes a four-week break before heading to the land of the 1000 lakes for Neste Oil Rally Finland (31 July – 3 August).

  

LOTOS Rally Poland – Final Unofficial Results (subject to scrutineering)