MOTORSPORT: Rallying’s big O does it again

VW even more dominant than Citroen in its glory days
Frenchman Sebastien Ogier is the world rally champion for the second year in a row, and in the process has given Volkswagen the best win ratio in WRC history.

Ogier and his countryman co-driver Julien Ingrassia won Rally Spain by 11.3 seconds ahead of the VW team’s Finnish pair, Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila, who had trailed by 36.6 seconds after Friday’s gravel stages before the two days on tarmac.

It was the seventh victory of the year for the French pair and the 11th for VW in 12 events. It had already clinched the manufacturers’ championship and just Wales Rally Great Britain remains in mid-November.

Citroen won 11 rallies too in 2005 and 2008, but there were 16 and 15 WRC rounds respectively in those years. VW now has 21 victories in the 25 WRC events since it entered the championship with its Polo Rs at the start of last season. It has been first and second 10 times in those 25 rallies.

A Ford Fiesta was third in Spain at the weekend in the hands of Finns Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen.

VW has 416 manufacturer points this season, more than twice Citroen’s 187 and Ford’s 180.

Latvala and Anttila will be second in the driver and co-driver world championships, while Norwegians Andreas Mikkelson and Ola Floene have wrapped up third place for VW’s second team, despite finishing only seventh in Spain after losing two minutes on Saturday because of a flat tyre.

Ogier and Ingrassia have an unassailable 31-point lead over Latvala-Anttila, 242-211, with a maximum 28 to be scored in Britain. The Frenchmen have had two second places this year as well as their seven victories. Their titles continue the French success of the great Sebastien Loeb, who won the previous nine world titles for Citroen.

The 30-year-old Ogier gave “big thanks to Volkswagen for giving me such fantastic tools”.

“I’m over the moon. It was a real battle to defend the title. In particular, Jari-Matti showed an incredibly strong performance in the last few months.”
Ogier, the eighth driver to win multiple world rally titles, said the VW operation had a “unique solidarity ... the team stands by every driver crew and that is extremely motivating”.

The VW mechanics, as they modified the Polo Rs from gravel to tarmac set-ups on Friday night, swapped 13 components comprising 1348 parts on each of the three cars in less than 75 minutes.

While Latvala maintained the pressure on Ogier in Spain, the Finn said he simply lost too much time on the gravel.

“I was very happy with our performance on asphalt, but we still have some work to do on loose gravel,” Latvala said.

That reduces the field to nine teams and 18 cars.

While Caterham and Marussia hope to be back for the other remaining GP this year, on November 23, they might never be seen again.

There has been renewed talk recently of top teams fielding three cars each in future years, although they have indicated it already may be too late for that next year.

Caterham is in administration with its factory at Leafield in England locked up and its debts, including to staff, unpaid. Former owner, Malaysian aviation tycoon Tony Fernandes, refused to transfer shares to Swiss and Middle Eastern investors in a company called Engavest, claiming they were obliged to pay Caterham’s debts.

Japanese driver Kamui Kobayashi expressed serious doubts about the safety of his Caterham car at the recent Russian GP.
Marussia is still reeling from the severe head injuries to its French driver Jules Bianchi when his car hit a heavy vehicle recovering an already-crashed Sauber in the wet Japanese GP.

Marussia fielded only one car the following weekend at the new Russian race. Bianchi, 25, remains in a critical condition in hospital at Yokkiaichi, near Japan's Suzuka circuit.

“Hand on heart, this is probably the date on the calendar I look forward to the most,” Australian Ricciardo, winner of three GPs with Red Bull Racing this season – and the only victor this year apart from Mercedes pair Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg – has told NBC Sports’ MotorSportTalk.

“I’ve loved every minute of being in Austin: when they picked this place for the US Grand Prix, they absolutely nailed it. The city is awesome.

“I love listening to live music and this is a great place for that, plus Texas feels like real America, and that’s something I’ve really enjoyed just sinking into the last two seasons [when driving for Red Bull’s junior team, Scuderia Toro Rosso].

“And then there’s the important bit. The Circuit of the Americas, in my opinion, is the best of the new breed of circuits. The nature of the corners is interesting. It’s also a very busy track where you don’t get much respite.

“The first sector is very special and that first turn, blind up the big hill, is like nothing else in F1. It’s also a good example of the excitement a late-apex can create: you can have a really good lunge there. They’ve done a very good job.”

Third in the world championship, Ricciardo will be certain to finish the season ahead of his teammate and world champion of the past four years,
Sebastian Vettel, if he beats him in Austin.

None of Vettel’s other teammates in F1 – including Ricciardo’s Australian predecessor, Mark Webber – have beaten the German in a championship since his debut season, 2007.