WRC: Volkswagen celebrates fifth WRC victory
Seventh WRC run, fifth victory: The Volkswagen factory team has further extended its lead in the World Rally Championship in the manufacturers’ classification. Sébastien Ogier and his co-driver Julien Ingrassia in their Volkswagen Polo R WRC, which uses a double-disc clutch and dampers by ZF, celebrated their fourth victory of the season at the Rally of Sardinia and enlarged their advantage in the Drivers’ World Championship to 64 points. Their team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila in the sister car took third place and thus finished on the podium as well, moving up to second place of the standings, trailing Ogier and Ingrassia. At the tough gravel rally in Sardinia, 13 of the total of 16 fastest special stage times went to the Volkswagen squad.
Results, Rally of Sardinia (I), round 7, WRC, June 21–June 22, 2013:
1. Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia, Volkswagen, 3h 22m 57.9s, ZF
2. Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul, Ford, + 1m 16.8s
3. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila, Volkswagen, + 1m 48.0s, ZF
4. Dani Sordo/Carlos del Barrio, Citroën, + 3m 19.2s
5. Martin Prokop/Michal Ernst, Ford, + 8m 34.1s
6. Elfyn Evans/Giovanni Bernacchini, Ford, 11m 51.8s
7. Michal Kosciuszko/Maciej Szczepaniak, Ford, 11m 52.7s
8. Mads Østberg/Jonas Andersson, Ford, + 13m 21.5s
9. Robert Kubica/Maciej Baran, Citroën, 16m 47.6s
10. Khalid Al-Qassimi/Scott Martin, Citroën, 17m 19.9s
Drivers’ World Championship Standings:
1. S. Ogier, 154 points; 2. J. Latvala, 90, 3. T. Neuville, 70; 4. S. Loeb, 68; 5. M. Hirvonen, 61; 6. D. Sordo, 59; 7. M. Østberg, 50; 8. Prokop, 37; 9. E. Novikov, 31; 10. N. Al-Attiyah, 30.
Manufacturers’ World Championship Standings:
1. Volkswagen Motorsport, 220 points; 2. Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT, 174; 3. Qatar WRT and Qatar M-Sport WRT, 89 each; 5. Jipocar Czech National Team, 39; 6. Abu Dhabi Citroën Total WRT, 33; 7. Volkswagen Motorsport 2, 26; 8. Lotos WRC, 20.
WEC: Le Mans: ZF partners Audi and Toyota decide podium between themselves
The ZF partners Audi and Toyota gave the 24-hour race at Le Mans a gripping motorsport duel between their hybrid sports cars the outcome of which was open up to and including the last hour as a gift on the event’s 90th anniversary. In the end, like last year, the Audi R18 e-tron quattro equipped with high-tech clutches from ZF triumphed ahead of the rival by a narrow margin. The – now – nine-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen from Denmark, the Scotsman Allan McNish and the French local hero Loïc Duval, after 24 hours impaired by rapidly changing weather and many safety car periods, had a one-lap advantage over the Toyota TS030 of Anthony Davidson, Sébastien Buemi and Stéphane Sarrazin. In third place, another Audi trio – Marc Gené, Lucas di Grassi and Oliver Jarvis – finished the world’s most famous endurance race on the podium.
Results, Le Mans (F), round 3, WEC, June 22–June 23,2013:
1. Kristensen/Duval/McNish, Audi, 24h 01m 16.436s, ZF
2. Davidson/Buemi/Sarrazin, Toyota, - 1 lap, ZF
3. Gené/Jarvis/di Grassi, Audi, - 1 laps, ZF
4. Wurz/ Lapierre/Nakajima, Toyota, - 7 laps, ZF
5. Lotterer/Tréluyer/Fässler, Audi, - 10 laps, ZF
6. Leventis/Watts/Kane, HPD-Honda, - 16 laps
7. Baguette/Gonzalez/Plowmann, Morgan-Nissan, - 19 laps
8. Pla/Heinemeier Hansson/Brundle, Morgan-Nissan, - 20 laps
9. Rusinov/ Martin/Conway, Oreca-Nissan, - 21 laps
10. Mardenborough/Ordonez/Krumm, Zytek-Nissan, - 21 laps
Drivers’ World Championship Standings:
1. McNish, Duval and Kristensen, 94 points each; 4. Lotterer, Tréluyer and Fässler, 64 each; 7. Davidson, Buemi and Sarrazin, 63 each; 10. Gené, di Grassi and Jarvis, 45 each.
Manufacturers’ World Championship Standings:
1. Audi, 102 points; 2. Toyota, 67.