Ogier-Ingrassia (VW), wins RallyRACC and Championship. Sordo-Martí (Hyundai), second

16/10/2016

Sébastien Ogier-Julien Ingrassia (Volkswagen Polo R WRC) collected a win after having kept the short Sunday program under control at all times. Their impressive victory at the 52 RallyRACC is also earing them a fourth consecutive world title. Dani Sordo-Marc Martí (Hyundai i20 WRC) finished second, and Thierry Neuville-Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 WRC) completed the podium.

Once again, Catalunya offered an amazing event, with thousands of motorsports fans lining along the roads of the 19 special stages of the 52 RallyRACC. Thursday started with a spectacular street stage in Barcelona, slightly tarnished by the heavy rain which persisted until Friday morning.

The second day of the event was compounded by the rain falling on the gravel stages, especially during the first pass. The rain spared the stages re-run in the afternoon and there was some shuffling in the top of the leaderboard. Barcelona stage winners Ott Tänak/Raigo Mölder (Ford) were replaced by Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai), but the Belgians had been demoted by  Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (Volkswagen) by the end of the first loop. However, local drivers Dani Sordo/Marc Martí (Hyundai) finished the day as leaders. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila (Volkswagen) retired after hitting a wheel and breaking the suspension.

Saturday brought asphalt to the competition, and Sordo/Martí struggled to hold Ogier/Ingrassia off. However, the French team had already collected five consecutive scratch times before the Salou street stage, where Sordo yielded yet a few more seconds. The extremely demanding 139 km of the second day were raced under fantastic weather, and large crowds of fans watched the eight special stages live. Andreas Mikkelsen/Anders Jaeger (Volkswagen Polo R WRC) were third overall when a crash forced them out of the race, thus paving the way for Ogier to move on. He was a single point away from claiming his fourth World Championship.

The last day was purely a formality. Jari-Matti Latvala won three of the four stages, including the power stage, which gave him three additional points, followed by Sébastien Ogier (2 points) and Dani Sordo (1 point). This win, the third for Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (Volkswagen) at the RallyRACC, after the ones they achieved in 2013 and 2014, is a great culmination to their fourth consecutive Drivers and Co-drivers titles. It is also Michelin's 300th victory at the WRC. Ogier now matches the amount of World Championships won by the Finnish Juha Kankkunen and Tommi Mäkinen, who also have four each.

The Volkswagen Polo R was followed on the podium by two Hyundai i20, those of Dani Sordo/Marc Martí and Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul, and the fourth was also a car from the Korean brand, driven by Hayden Paddon/Jonh Kennard. In a rally that did not suit Ford too well, Mads Østberg/Ola Fløene finished in fifth place, while the best Citroën up to this last day, the one driven by Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle, also had to retire due to a mechanic failure. Over at WRC2 victory went to Jan Kopecký/Pavel Dresler (Skoda) while the WRC3 class was won by Fabio Andolfi/Manuel Fenoli (Peugeot 208 R2).

Final classification, 52 RallyRACC
1 - Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (Volkswagen Polo R WRC), 3h.13'03''6
2 - Daniel Sordo/Marc Martí (Hyundai i20 WRC), + 15''6
3 - Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 WRC), + 1'15''0
4 - Hayden Paddon/John Kennard (Hyundai i20 WRC), + 1'27''8
5 - Mads Østberg/Ola Fløene (Ford Fiesta RS WRC), + 3'24''4
6 - Ott Tänak/Raigo Mölder (Ford Fiesta RS WRC), + 5'24''9
7 - Kevin Abbring/Sebastian Marshall (Hyundai i20 WRC), + 7'31''3
8 - Jan Kopecký/Pavel Dresler (Skoda Fabia R5, 1º WRC2), + 9'05''1
9 - Pontus Tidemand/Jonas Andersson (Skoda Fabia R5), + 9'20''4
10 - Craig Breen/Scott Martin (Citroën DS3 WRC), + 9'57''1