Ogier and Ingrassia claim third victory of the 2014 season
The French reigning World Champions won Rally de Portugal by 43.2 seconds to take their 19th career win and Volkswagen’s eighth consecutive victory.
Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia, Volkswagen Polo WRC, Volkswagen Motorsport
Volkswagen Motorsport
The Volkswagen Motorsport crew of Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia claimed their third victory of the 2014 FIA World Rally Championship season today. The French reigning World Champions won Rally de Portugal by 43.2 seconds to take their 19th career win and Volkswagen’s eighth consecutive victory. The Ford Fiesta RS WRC crew of Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen finished second and Mads Østberg and Jonas Andersson took the final podium position for Citroën.
In the Championship standings, Ogier extends his advantage to 29 points over team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala, while Østberg and Hirvonen hold third and fourth respectively. In the FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers, Volkswagen Motorsport takes a commanding 69 point lead over the Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team.
Today’s route was the shortest and covered just three stages and 43.87 competitive kilometres. The second run through the 13.83 kilometre Loulé stage counted as the Power Stage and here Ogier, Latvala and Østberg added to their tally with additional bonus points.Ogier was able to control the pace today and cruised to his 12th victory with the Volkswagen team and fourth in Portugal. The gap between Hirvonen and Østberg also left little to fight for with too few kilometres, although Østberg claimed the win in the middle stage. Dani Sordo, who started the morning in fourth position, was forced into a heart-breaking retirement on the road section to the first stage, the Spaniard out with a broken front left driveshaft.
Andreas Mikkelsen claimed fourth, overhauling Henning Solberg during the day. Martin Prokop finished sixth and Thierry Neuville managed to climb back to seventh, despite only having rear-wheel drive in the final stage. His team-mate Juho Hänninen finished just behind in eighth and WRC 2 Championship competitors Nasser Al-Attiyah and Jari Ketomaa took the final positions in the top 10.
The fifth round of the FIA World Rally Championship takes the contenders to South America for Rally Argentina (8-11 May).
Overall Final Classification
1. S. Ogier / J. Ingrassia (Volkswagen Polo R WRC) 3:33:20.4
2. M. Hirvonen / J. Lehtinen (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +43.2
3. M. Østberg / J. Andersson (Citroën DS3 WRC) +1:12.4
4. A. Mikkelsen / M. Markkula (Volkswagen Polo R WRC) +4:50.5
5. H. Solberg / I. Minor (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +5:10.2
6. M. Prokop / J. Tománek (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +8:27.2
7. T. Neuville / N. Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 WRC) +8:32.3
8. J. Hänninen / T. Tuominen (Hyundai i20 WRC) +8:51.6
9. N. Al-Attiyah / G. Bernacchini (Ford Fiesta R5) +10:14.7
10. J. Ketomaa / K. Lindstrom (Ford Fiesta R5) +10:26.3
2014 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
S. Ogier 91 points / J.M. Latvala 62 / M. Østberg 48 / M. Hirvonen 36 / A. Mikkelsen 36 / T. Neuville 21 / E. Evans 20 / B. Bouffier 18 / M. Prokop 18 / C. Meeke 17 / H. Solberg 16 / O. Tanak 10 / B. Guerra 8 / C. Atkinson 6 / J. Melicharek 4 / P. Tidemand 4 / J. Hänninen 4 / M. Gamba 2 / C. Breen 2 / N. Al-Attyiah 2 / J. Protasov 2 / J. Ketomaa 1
2014 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
Volkswagen Motorsport 144 points / Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team 75 / M-Sport World Rally Team 60 / Hyundai Motorsport 45 / Volkswagen Motorsport II 40 / Jipocar Czech National Team 20 / RK M-Sport World Rally Team 4
Final Unofficial Results (subject to scrutineering)
WRC
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