This year, Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia became only the fourth crew since 1977 to successfully defend their FIA World Rally Championship title and the Frenchmen once again raised the prestigious trophy at the FIA’s Prize-Giving in Doha, Qatar, this evening. Volkswagen Motorsport, in only its second year in the Championship, also reclaimed its title with three events in hand, the earliest the FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers has been won in 25 years.

The title defence once again began at Rallye Monte-Carlo and Ogier and Ingrassia kicked off their campaign in style with victory in the Polo R WRC. While leading the Championship going into the second round in Sweden, they lost out to team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila on the snow and ice and this was to be the only event of the season which they left not leading the series. The first two gravel events of the season - Mexico and Portugal - also netted wins and additional points for victory in both Power Stages, and they secured second position on the following Rally Argentina. Italy, and Poland – making its return to the FIA World Rally Championship for the first time since 2009 – both saw the Frenchmen on the top step of the podium, and by the time the mid-season break came around, the duo was looking unstoppable. Second in Finland set up the potential for Volkswagen Motorsport to win the Manufacturers’ Championship on the next round in Germany, but a disastrous double retirement for Ogier and Latvala left the team in no doubt they were fallible. Their home round in France came off the back of a win in Australia and it was the first opportunity Sébastien and Julien had to seal the Drivers’ Championship. A small technical fault was where it all started to go wrong for the Frenchmen, however, and they were only able to secure three points in the Power Stage. The tables turned on Spain’s mixed surface event and a faultless performance enabled the duo to clinch the title in impressive style with their seventh win of the season. On Wales Rally GB, the final round of the series, they secured yet another win to round off a near perfect season.

Talking of his title defence year and second world title, Sébastien Ogier said:

“It is a fantastic feeling to win the title again and an honour to be on a list with some of the great names of the sport. But more than that, I’m happy that Julien and I have confirmed the first title from last year. It’s a big achievement to reach the goal to become a world champion, but to confirm it is even better. Also because this one was definitely harder to get as we were in a close fight with Jari-Matti Latvala until the end. I think it’s made the championship more exciting for the fans and it’s made my victories tastier, let’s say, when you have to work hard and you’re able to win this kind of battle.”

In the FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers, the Volkswagen Polo R WRC has an impressive pedigree after just two years of competition; 345 victories from 486 stages, 41 podiums from 74 starts and 22 wins from 26 rallies resulting in an 85% win rate, the highest-ever in the WRC. This year, courtesy of Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia and Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila, Volkswagen Motorsport drivers won 12 of the 13 rounds of the Championship, eight with one-twos, and could boast an unprecedented 12 back-to-back victories that ran from the 2013 Rally Australia to 2014 Rally Finland. At the end of the season, Volkswagen is also only the second manufacturer which has managed to lock-out the top three spots in the final drivers’ classification, equalled in 1987 and 1988 by Lancia.

Speaking about their extraordinary success, Jost Capito, Volkswagen Motorsport Director, said:

“After our successful 2013, we were the team to beat right from the word go this season. Despite the strength of the opposition and higher expectations, Volkswagen managed to successfully defend all three World Championship titles. The duel for the title between Sébastien Ogier and Jari-Matti-Latvala had fans on the edge of their seats right to the end of the season, and Volkswagen set a new benchmark with 12 wins from 13 rallies. To achieve this magnificent success, the car, drivers, co-drivers and entire team must always be at their best. However, there is one overriding success factor: the unique spirit in this team, which made the hard work easier, made us strong in difficult situations, and repeatedly motivated every single one of us.”

The support championships continued to be as popular as ever with no fewer than 37 drivers registering for the FIA WRC 2 Championship for four-wheel drive cars. The title went down to the wire on Wales Rally GB between Jari Ketomaa and Nasser Al-Attiyah but, with four victories during the season and no need to win the final round, the Qatari and Italian co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini took the plaudits. Ketomaa’s Drive DMACK team nevertheless won the title for WRC 2 Teams. Within the Championship, eight competitors in Group N machinery were fighting for the Production Car Cup, which was won after Italians Max Rendina and Mario Pizutti claimed victory and maximum points on Rally Australia.

The FIA WRC 3 Championship attracted 18 drivers driving two-wheel drive machinery, including those also entered in the FIA Junior WRC Championship which ran over six rounds. Frenchmen Stéphane Lefebvre and Thomas Dubois sealed both titles in their Citroën DS3 R3, amassing three category victories along the way. As part of the prize for winning the Junior WRC Championship, Lefebvre now gets the opportunity to contest six events in the 2015 FIA WRC 2 Championship driving a Citroën DS3 R5 car. ADAC Team Weser-EMS E.V. and Styllex Slovak National Team jointly won the FIA WRC 3 Championship for Teams and in the Junior Nations Trophy, France took an emphatic victory.