FIA World Rally Championship

Volkswagen Motorsport excited for their home rally

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Volkswagen Motorsport are looking forward to the 2016 Rallye Deutschland, the rally where the Wolfsburg-based team claimed a historic 1-2-3 result last year.

Volkswagen won’t have to contend with a starting disadvantage as in previous rallies gone by as Rallye Deutschland is contested on the asphalt stages of Trier in South Western Germany.

Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia, Andreas Mikkelsen/Anders Jæger and Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila who will al open Rallye Deutschland first, second and third on the Special Stages.

Last year, all three Volkswagen drivers won most of the stages and the Power Stages after failing to win at their home rally in 2013 and 2014. Ogier still leads the World Rally Championship Drivers’ Standings by 45 points ahead of his team-mate Mikkelsen in second.

Ogier is looking forward to Rallye Deutschland, the site where he completed the famous Volkswagen 1-2-3 last year. The Frenchman said “I always look forward to the Rally Germany, but slightly more than usual this time around. Finally, Julien and I have a realistic chance of fighting for the win under our own steam again after the difficult gravel rallies.

“Accordingly, I am highly motivated and very keen to repeat the success of last year. The Rally Germany is also Volkswagen’s home event and so the whole team wants to deliver a particularly good performance in front of the fans.”

Credit: Kräling/Volkswagen Motorsport

Credit: Kräling/Volkswagen Motorsport

Latvala used the three-week post-Rally Finland to test the current and 2017 WRC Polo R, saying “I am ready for Germany. Sébastien was very strong last year, overall I was pleased with second place. Finishing in the top three again would be a good result for me this year. Last year I was a little bit too cautious on the Panzerplatte stages and lost a lot of time there. I want to improve on that this year.”

Mikkelsen added “I’m really looking forward to the Rally Germany, which is always a great challenge. The weather is extremely changeable and the grip level constantly changes on the different asphalt surfaces, which means the set-up needs to be adjusted frequently. This is extremely tough on the drivers and co-drivers, but also the mechanics and engineers in Germany.”

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Third Year Birmingham City University Journalism student. I've been dedicating most of my life in motorsport to Formula One. I also have a keen passion for rallying and motorcycle racing.
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