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Adam Davis15 Sept 2014
NEWS

MOTORSPORT: VW counts to three in Oz WRC

Volkswagen exerts its dominance on world rallying as reigning champ Ogier heads German-brand 1-2-3 in Coffs

In motorsport, nothing is more intriguing than watching two masters at the height of their abilities slugging it out for a championship in equal machinery.

This year's World Rally Championship, though on paper a VW benefit, has nevertheless carried a fascinating theme through the course of the year, with Sebastien Ogier and Jari-Matti Latvala engaged in a furious battle for championship honours.

The Volkswagen team was still smarting from its second successive poor performance on the tricky tarmac of Rally Germany, and came to Australia with a point to prove.

Back on the gravel, where the VW Polo Rs have only been defeated once since debuting (Sebastien Loeb, Citroen DS3 WRC, Rally Argentina 2013), could anyone get close?

As per the regulations, 2014 championship leader Ogier led the field out of the service park on Friday's opening day. The 2013 world rally champion has been vociferous in his dislike of this season's starting order regulations, which dictates that drivers run in championship order on the first day.

While it is usually beneficial on tarmac or in wet conditions, the first driver is generally at a disadvantage on dry gravel, as the surface takes several passes to ‘clean' (displacing the loose material to reveal the harder, grippier surface beneath).

Road-sweeping duties failed to stop the Polo R-mounted Frenchman, as he took the opening 10.73km Hydes Creek I test stage by 4.4 seconds from his Norwegian teammate, Andreas Mikkelsen.

He was assisted in part by the opening 10.73km Hydes Creek I stage being partly cleaned on Thursday, when it was used for shakedown. Australian Chris Atkinson, making a return to front-line WRC competition with Hyundai, opened his account with the eighth fastest time.

It was Kris Meeke, running eighth on the road and expected to be high up as a result, who took the 10.72km SS2 (Bellingen I) in his Citroen DS3 WRC, ahead of Hyundai i20 WRC team leader Thierry Neuville, who had recovered from a brief off in SS1.

M-Sport Ford Fiesta RS WRC driver Mikko Hirvonen – the first winner of Coffs Harbour, in 2012 – also beat the VW juggernaut, laughing in the face of retirement rumours (“Media speculation”, according to the Finn).

It was a strong early showing for the M-Sport squad, celebrating its 250th WRC event.

The 24.91km Newry I was next and Meeke asserted his authority, winning the stage by a scant 0.3 seconds from Hirvonen to take the rally lead at the lunch break.

The three morning stages were repeated in the afternoon, the roads now nicely swept. Ogier took Hydes Creek once more, but it was his flamboyant (in the car, at least) Finnish VW teammate Latvala who starred in the afternoon, taking Bellingen and Newry to close right up on leader Meeke before the evening's super specials.

With road position for the Saturday determined by the results at the end of SS6 (WRC crews run in reverse rally position order on days two and three, generally giving the leaders superior gravel road conditions), rather than the short and spectator-friendly super specials, Meeke would run last.

But as the heavens opened over the service park, there was uncertainty as to whether this would remain beneficial.

Volkswagen threw down the gauntlet on the twin 1.56km night tests, Ogier leading a 1-2-3 over both passes, taking the lead off Meeke.

Latvala and Mikkelsen also passed the Citroen driver on the overall classification, the former only 0.4 seconds off Ogier after a day's running.

Despite heavy overnight rain a visual inspection of the massive 49.92km Nambucca I revealed little mud and a still-marbled, powdery surface.

‘Atko' was first on the road, after completing day one in 11th position. “There was a bit of dampness on the road under the trees but no mud,” he said of the conditions.

Latvala was “in the groove” on the rally's longest test, moving into the outright lead with a time three seconds quicker than Ogier. “In places the roads reminded me of Finland,” he said.

Meeke remained on the pace, looking the most likely to break the VW stranglehold with the third quickest time, though he wondered if taking hard tyres on the long stage – when many were on softs – would have been a better decision.

The Volkswagens managed another 1-2-3 on the following 7.92km Valla I stage, Mikkelsen – who Meeke had displaced for the final podium position on the previous test – retaking third place before heading into the lunch break.

World champion Ogier made his move on the afternoon, returning to the lead with a spellbinding display on the repeated Nambucca II.

He was 7.1 seconds up on the dogged Meeke, 7.7 seconds ahead of Mikkelsen and – most importantly – 13.4 seconds up on Jari-Matti. At this point the podium battle appeared to dwindle to four.

The Valla re-run possibly dropped that to three. Although the stage order went Ogier-Latvala-Meeke-Mikkelsen, the plucky Citroen pilot was docked a position (effectively a one-minute, one-second time penalty to drop him behind Hirvonen) for taking a major ‘cut', all four wheels clearly off-track on an asphalt section towards the end of the stage.

Ogier eked out another two super special stage wins from his VW teammates, but his focus remained on the final loop of forest stages on Sunday as he held a slender 11.8-second lead.

Sunday comprised six stages, following the general WRC format of morning stages repeated in the afternoon.

Latvala's time on the opening 24.72km Shipmans I stage was remarkable, allowing him to take two seconds from his French team leader. Meeke was the only other driver to go within 10 seconds of Latvala's time, though Mikkelsen suggested he was “driving to Kris and Mikko's splits”, managing his comfortable third position with “no risks”.

Ogier headed the 10.86km Bucca I from Latvala, to stabilise his lead, while Norweigan Mads Ostberg, who had thus far struggled to find a rhythm, took the fourth quickest stage time behind teammate Meeke.

Meeke took another stage win off the VWs on the 9.23km Wedding Bells I, which would host the Power Stage in the afternoon. Ogier could only manage seventh, 3.7 seconds off the pace. Was he managing tyres, or was there an issue?

The enthralling see-saw continued after lunchtime service. Ogier took Shipmans II, Latvala Bucca II, leaving the warring pair only eight seconds apart after three intense days of rallying.

Latvala passed through Wedding Bells II before Ogier, allowing the Frenchman to drive to his protagonist's time splits, though he could ill-afford to back off. Jari-Matti took the stage, taking another 1.2 sec out of the 2013 world champion… but it wasn't enough.

Ogier and co-driver Julien Ingrassia took Rally Australia victory by 6.8 seconds from Latvala and Miikka Antilla. Making it a VW 1-2-3 was Andreas Mikkelsen and Ola Floene another 1:11.2 behind. It was VW's first trifecta and secured it the WRC manufacturer's title for the second year in succession.

Meeke followed in fourth, though Hirvonen drove with panache to finish fifth in the Fiesta. Sixth was young Kiwi Hayden Paddon, driving his debut season in the Hyundai i20 WRC.

It was his best result to date, besting Hyundai team leader Thierry Neuville, who finished seventh after losing time on the first day with rear suspension damage, before clouting a letterbox on the Saturday.

Elfyn Evans was a quietly impressive eighth in his Rally Australia debut, the M-Sport Ford driver now “off the leash for the last three rounds”, according to boss Malcolm Wilson.

He's brought the car home regularly where previous M-Sport juniors (Evgeney Novikov, Ott Tanak) have shown pure pace… until finding a solid obstacle.

Former F1 GP driver Robert Kubica had perhaps his steadiest run of the season, finishing ninth, while rounding out the top 10 was our own Atkinson aboard the third Hyundai team car.

“Not easy after six months out. We had a fun time, but unfortunately it's my worst finish ever at Rally Australia! Still, great to be back in a world rally car at home. I hope we get some more,” said the Aussie.

But it is the title contenders who deserve the last say: “There was no better way to come back after Germany," said Ogier after taking his 22nd career WRC victory.

"It was so disappointing to offer the team so little at home, so to deliver the first Volkswagen 1-2-3 here is a great result."

Latvala was gracious in defeat: “It's been a great fight, I really enjoyed it, but of course I'm annoyed about Saturday's tyre choice -- that's where I lost this rally.

"Overall [it was] a good event. These are the sort of fights I need to have if I'm going to win the title myself one day.”

The series now moves back to its spiritual home in Europe for the final three rounds of competition. The tarmac of France is next, followed by the mixed surfaces of Spain and the gravel finale in Great Britain.

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Written byAdam Davis
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