Volkswagen wins World Rally Championship second time in a row

Volkswagen has won the 2014 World Rally Championship and this is their second championship in a row, after they entered the WRC in 2013. There is still one more race left with the WRC finale at the Rally Great Britain, but the French duo, Sebastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia, have a 31 point lead in the championship, enough to win back their title. The Ogier/ Ingrassia duo are only the fourth duo since 1977 to have successfully defended their title. This is the ninth time this season that the duo is celebrating on the podium with seven victories and two second places, that won them the early title. Ogier and Ingrassia won the titles in the drivers' and co-drivers' standings with Volkswagen in 2013. Volkswagen Motorsport stands top in the Manufacturer’s standings with 416 points, a lead of 229 points to the next in line.

Commenting on the victory, Sebastien Ogier said, “It’s a fantastic feeling to become world champion for a second time! I'm over the moon, it was a real battle to defend the title. In particular, my team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala showed an incredibly strong performance in the last few months. Now Julien and I have a great sense of happiness and relief. Big thanks to our fantastic team at Volkswagen. Not just for giving us a fantastic car throughout the season. But also for the unique solidarity that we have. It doesn't matter whether things are going well or badly – the team stands by every driver crew and that is extremely motivating. I'm happy and proud to be part of this team. Today we will have a big world championship party, that much is clear!"

Jost Capito, director of Volkswagen Motorsport said, "A worthy winner of a fantastic battle throughout the season. Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia are deserved old and new World Rally Champions*. They withstood the pressure from Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila perfectly, managed their advantage cleverly, and emerged victorious from this battle. That deserves the utmost respect. All three drivers showed an outstanding performance, unfortunately Andreas Mikkelsen and Ola Fløene were a bit unlucky on Saturday and lost more than two minutes through no fault of their own. With eleven victories in one season, Volkswagen has set a new record. That's thanks to the whole team, on site, in Hannover and in Wolfsburg. All in all a great day for Séb, Julien and Volkswagen."