WRC – Volkswagen promises after Monte-Carlo

Sébastien Ogier didn't take long to shine at the wheel of the Polo R WRC. Away from the forefront last year by racing in a Skoda Fabia S2000, the Frenchman was able to free himself in Monte-Carlo by racing in the Volkswagen WRC. After Sébastien Loeb took a good lead at the head of the event, the Frenchman secured second place ahead of the DS3 WRC of Dani Sordo, depriving Citroën of a double. His teammate Jari-Matti Latvala was in the top five before retiring on the first pass of the Col de Turini following an accident.

“I am sorry for Jari-Matti but I am convinced that we will celebrate several victories together for Volkswagen”, comments the winner of the 2009 edition of Monte-Carlo. “I have never been happier with a second place, to get the podium for the debut of the Polo R WRC is simply fantastic. It was probably the worst conditions I experienced in Monte-Carlo, particularly (in the last stage), during the first passage of the Col de Turini which was extremely slippery and where it was not possible to advance further. 20km/h. It was just about keeping the car on the road. The whole team worked hard last year and I'm happy to give them this result. »

Sports director Jost Capito also expresses his satisfaction and relief at seeing the Polo R WRC reach the podium while Sébastien Ogier has strong claims to the world title since the winner of the event Sébastien Loeb will only compete in four events this year. year. “Second place for first rally of the new Polo R WRC is more than we could have hoped for. The team did an exceptional job over the last four days of competition, preparing the cars perfectly. The Monte-Carlo Rally is the toughest event on the calendar and the team has proven that it is ready to compete in the WRC. She didn't make a single mistake, we had no problems. No one can forget the performances of Sébastien Ogier who competed in his first Monte-Carlo at the wheel of a WRC. There are no other rallies where the driver's impact on the result is more important. This is why we will only see our potential with the Polo R WRC in the next events. »

Discover the analysis of the Monte-Carlo Rally carried out by our special correspondents in the next issue of AUTOhebdo, available from Tuesday in digital version for iPad, PC and Mac, and from Wednesday on newsstands.