PoloDriver

Rally Mexico, the third round of the 2012 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), saw Volkswagen Motorsport come home eighth overall, gaining valuable experience for its Polo R WRC programme. Last weekend, the all-French pairing of Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia finished ahead of three more powerful WRC cars, scoring their first four championship points. The Dutch/Belgian duo of Kevin Abbring and Frédéric Miclotte weren’t quite so fortunate, retiring in the 16th special stage due to technical problems.

‘The extremely stony gravel tracks at an altitude of over 2000m make the Mexico Rally one of the most demanding rallies for “man and material”,’ said Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen. ‘We’ve gathered conclusive measurements for the development of the Polo R WRC, and Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia did a very good job. It’s a shame that Kevin Abbring and Frédéric Miclotte suffered misfortune as they’d been running at a nice, fast past up to that point. The enthusiasm of the Mexican rally fans is fantastic. And it’s a fantastic feeling to note that the Volkswagen brand has many loyal fans in Mexico.’

Rally Mexico delivered spectacular rallying on 22 special stages and 380 timed kilometres around the city of Leon. Starting in the front-runners, Ogier struggled with the difficult conditions. ‘When you’re always among the first drivers to go out, there’s still a particularly large amount of gravel on the track,’ he said. ‘In addition, the power difference compared with turbo engines is even greater here at extremely high altitudes. On the whole, though, I’m pleased because I can give the Volkswagen Motorsport team its first championship points. And in 2013 we’ll be even further at the front with the new Polo R WRC.’