PoloDriver

We could see it coming, but dared not hope. But, exceeding all its own expectations, Volkswagen has won the 2013 World Rally Championship, with Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia taking the spoils during Rally France, currently taking place in Alsace. The result is to be confirmed by the FIA, but the French dynamic duo came third in the Power Stage (stage one of the French event), meaning they can’t be caught in the championship standings, therefore taking outright series victory. There are still two more rounds of the championship, to go, too, with Rally Spain and Rally Wales GB wins still to be fought for.

The victory marks two firsts – the first time Ogier and Ingrassia have taken the World Champions title, and the first time a manufacturer has taken the title in its debut season. Volkswagen Motorsport was, it says, aiming for podium finishes in its inaugural season, but with a car two years in development and gestation, and the non-competing of the current WRC champion Sébastien Loeb, it must have secretly wished for more than that. Cynics will look at Loeb’s part-time attendance in his final WRC season as one of the factors in VW’s win, but that would be to deny what the team and Ogier and Ingrassia have achieved.

Consistently fast, and taking six wins this season out of a possible 10, the Frenchmen have set 2013’s pace and have been the pair to beat. Ever since the Polo R WRC took to the stages of the Monte Carlo Rally in January, it has been a familiar sight at the top of the leaderboards, its white, yellow, red, and blue livery flashing through the world’s toughest rally stages. Development of the car started in 2011, with the final specification of the car unveiled in December 2012. With 315bhp, four-wheel drive, a six-speed sequential gearbox, and a devastating appetite for forest tracks, asphalt roads, and gravel and mud routes, the super-Polo has provided the perfect office in which for Ogier to work.

‘I am absolutely overjoyed! I could give everyone in the world a big hug. The feeling is impossible to describe. To have won the World Championship title in France is an absolute dream come true. For the past few days I have been trying not to think too much about it. The relief now is immense. As a little boy, I used to marvel at the cars and top drivers at the Rally Monte Carlo with my father in my home town of Gap – and now Julien and I are World Rally Champions. It is crazy. However, I am also well aware that this success would never have been possible without our fantastic team at Volkswagen. I have to thank everyone,’ said an ecstatic Ogier. And we thank you, Sébastien. We’ve enjoyed watching you, Julien and the Polo R WRC this year, and it’s a genuinely exciting time to be both a rally and VW fan.