WRC: Volkswagen celebrates one-two victory in Sweden
Second victory in the Volkswagen Polo R WRC, third success at Rally Sweden: At round two of the World Rally Championship, the Finn Jari-Matti Latvala triumphed in the Volkswagen Polo R WRC, which is equipped with a two-plate clutch and dampers by ZF, ahead of his Norwegian team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen.
On the challenging sections of the route in Central Sweden – thaw, snow and rain resulted in a difficult mix – Latvala and Mikkelsen battled in a gripping duel. 43 out of 69 possible top 3 times as well as 18 fastest times on the special stages went to the Volkswagen squad. On clinching the ninth WRC win of his career, Latvala took the lead in the World Rally Championship.
World Rally Champion Sébastien Ogier, who had decided the season opener at the Monte Carlo Rally in his favor, dropped to 20th place after a driving mistake in the Volkswagen Polo R WRC, recovered to sixth at the finish, and maintains second place in the World Rally Championship.
Results, Rally Sweden (S), round 2, FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), Feb 05–Feb 08, 2014:
1. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila, Volkswagen, 3h 00m 31.1s, ZF
2. Andreas Mikkelsen/Mikko Markkula, Volkswagen, , + 53.6s, ZF
3. Mads Østberg/Jonas Andersson, Citroën, + 59.5s
4. Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen, Ford, + 2m 26.9s
5. Ott Tänak/Raigo Mölder, Ford, + 3m 00.5s
6. Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia, Volkswagen, + 4m 29.9s,ZF
7. Henning Solberg/Ilka Minor, Ford, + 4m 47.5s
8. Pontus Tidemand/Ola Fløene, Ford, + 5m 38.2s
9. Craig Breen/Scott Martin, Ford, + 8m 55.4s
10. Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle, Citroën, + 11m 18.0s
Drivers’ world championship standings:
1. J. Latvala, 40; 2. S. Ogier, 35; 3. M. Østberg, 30; 4. A. Mikkelsen, 24; 5. B. Bouffier, 18; 6. K. Meeke, 17; 7. M. Hirvonen, 13; 8. O. Tänak, 10; 9. E. Evans, 8; 10. H. Solberg, 6.
Constructors’ world championship standings:
1. Volkswagen Motorsport, 72; 2. Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT, 56; 3. Volkswagen Motorsport 2, 26; 4. M-Sport WRT, 22; 5. Hyundai Motorsport, 8; 6. RK M-Sport WRT, 4.