Volkswagen Motorsport

The Volkswagen Motorsport is a works rally team of the German car manufacturer Volkswagen, whom competed in the World Rally Championship (WRC) and Dakar Rally.

Volkswagen Motorsport
Full nameVolkswagen Motorsport
Base Hannover, Germany
Team principal(s) Jost Capito
Technical director Willy Rampf
Drivers Jari-Matti Latvala
Sébastien Ogier
Andreas Mikkelsen
Co-drivers Miikka Anttila
Julien Ingrassia
Anders Jaeger-Synnevaag
ChassisVolkswagen Polo R WRC
TyresM Michelin
World Rally Championship career
Debut2011
Constructors' Championships4 (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016)
Drivers' Championships4 (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016)
Rally wins44

The team started competing in WRC in 1978 and used different specs of Volkswagen Golfs before leaving the sport in 1990. Volkswagen competed at the Dakar Rally from 2003 to 2011, claiming three overall wins. The team made its WRC comeback in 2011 Rally Finland with a pair of Škoda Fabia S2000s, and competed with the Volkswagen Polo R WRC from the start of the 2013 World Rally Championship season to the end of the 2016 World Rally Championship season.

At the end of the 2016 season, Volkswagen Motorsport decided to withdraw from the FIA World Rally Championship.[1]

History

Dakar (2003–2011)

In 2003, Volkswagen entered the Tarek 2WD buggy at the Dakar Rally, with Stéphane Henrard placing 6th outright. The Race Touareg 1 was introduced in 2004, when Bruno Saby finished 6th. In 2005, Jutta Kleinschmidt finished in 3rd overall. With the Race Touareg 2, Giniel de Villiers finished in 2nd place overall in 2006. In 2007, Mark Miller finished 4th overall. Volkswagen won the 2009, 2010 and 2011 Dakar Rally, the latter with the Race Touareg 3, with drivers De Villiers, Carlos Sainz and Nasser Al-Attiyah.

2011–2012

In 2011 Volkswagen competed with seven different drivers in four rallies (Rally Finland, Rallye Deutschland, Rally Catalunya and Wales Rally GB). German Christian Riedemann was the only driver competing in two rallies.

In November 2011, the team revealed they have made a multi-year contract with the French rally star Sébastien Ogier and his co-driver Julien Ingrassia.

For 2012 season, Volkswagen Motorsport continued developing their Polo R World Rally Car and they also completed a full WRC-campaign (except New Zealand) with a pair of Škoda Fabias. Sébastien Ogier drove it in every round of the campaign, while the second car was shared between Andreas Mikkelsen and Kevin Abbring. The team had a third car in their home rally Germany driven by Sepp Wiegand.

The season included some highlights, including Sébastien Ogier's unexpected special stage win in Sardinia. Ogier's fifth place in Sardinia also remains the best ever overall finish for a S2000 car in World Rally Championship.[2]

In October, Volkswagen Motorsport announced that they have signed Jari-Matti Latvala with his co-driver Miikka Anttila to join Ogier and Ingrassia to drive Volkswagen Polo R WRC for 2013 season.[3]

2013

Volkswagen Motorsport entered as a fully-fledged manufacturer team in 2013. Sébastien Ogier and Jari-Matti Latvala started the season, whilst Andreas Mikkelsen joined the championship at the fourth round in Portugal. Mikkelsen and his new co-driver Mikko Markkula were registered under a second manufacturer team, known as “Volkswagen Motorsport II” so as to give them as much time as possible testing the Polo R WRC.[4]

The 2013 season started with Rallye Monte-Carlo. Volkswagen entered the rally with two cars, Latvala/Anttila and Ogier/Ingrassia. Ogier started their campaign with a dream start by winning the very first stage of the season, and the first of Volkswagen Polo R WRC.[5] Ogier won one more stage and finished the rally in second place, nearly two minutes behind the winner Sébastien Loeb. Jari-Matti Latvala's rally ended in last evening of the rally when he hit the wall in slippery conditions.

The team took its first WRC victory in their second rally with the World Rally Car, when Sébastien Ogier dominated the Rally Sweden being fastest in half of the stages of the rally.[6] Jari-Matti Latvala finished fourth, and also scored his first stage win with the team.

Ogier continued his dominance at the next event in Rally Mexico, giving the team its second victory in a row. Ogier won 16 out of 23 stages and lead the rally from the second stage till the finish. Latvala hit a rock in SS2 and after restarting in Day 2 he eventually finished outside of the points. That meant Volkswagen was still 6 points behind Citroën in Manufacturers' standings before moving on to Rally de Portugal.[7]

2016

2016 would turn out to be another successful year for the team; as they collected their fourth consecutive manufacturers’ championship, and Sébastien Ogier claimed his fourth consecutive drivers’ championship.

Just days after the 2016 Wales Rally GB, Volkswagen announced that they would be pulling out of the WRC at the end of the 2016 season. This came as a surprise to many fans and journalists, as the team and their drivers had already been conducting major development and testing work on the new 2017 Polo, based on the new generation WRC cars. Although no direct reason was given for the teams’ withdrawal, it was widely speculated to be a result of Volkswagen’s recent emissions scandal.

2018

Volkswagen Motorsport is scheduled to make a return to the World Rally Championship with an R5 version of the Volkswagen Polo GTI. The car will make its debut at the 2018 Rally Catalunya, with entries for both Petter Solberg and Eric Camilli.[8]

2019

In November 2019, Volkswagen announced that, consistent with its shift in focus to emphasize the manufacturing of electric vehicles, it would end all motorsport programmes that do not involve electric vehicles.[9]

Complete WRC results

WRC victories

No. Season Rally Driver Co-driver Car
1 1987 19ème Rallye Côte d'Ivoire Kenneth Eriksson Peter Diekmann Volkswagen Golf GTI 16V
2 2013 61st Rally Sweden Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Volkswagen Polo R WRC
3 27º Rally México Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Volkswagen Polo R WRC
4 47º Rally de Portugal Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Volkswagen Polo R WRC
5 59th Acropolis Rally Jari-Matti Latvala Miikka Anttila Volkswagen Polo R WRC
6 10º Rally Italia Sardegna Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Volkswagen Polo R WRC
7 63rd Rally Finland Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Volkswagen Polo R WRC
8 22nd Rally Australia Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Volkswagen Polo R WRC
9 Rallye de France – Alsace 2013 Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Volkswagen Polo R WRC
10 49º Rally Catalunya Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Volkswagen Polo R WRC
11 69th Wales Rally GB Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Volkswagen Polo R WRC
12 2014 82ème Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Volkswagen Polo R WRC
13 62nd Rally Sweden Jari-Matti Latvala Miikka Anttila Volkswagen Polo R WRC
14 28º Rally México Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Volkswagen Polo R WRC
15 48º Rally de Portugal Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Volkswagen Polo R WRC
16 34° Rally Argentina Jari-Matti Latvala Miikka Anttila Volkswagen Polo R WRC
17 11º Rally Italia Sardegna Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Volkswagen Polo R WRC
18 71st Rally Poland Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Volkswagen Polo R WRC
19 64th Rally Finland Jari-Matti Latvala Miikka Anttila Volkswagen Polo R WRC
20 23rd Rally Australia Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Volkswagen Polo R WRC
21 Rallye de France – Alsace 2014 Jari-Matti Latvala Miikka Anttila Volkswagen Polo R WRC
22 50º Rally Catalunya Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Volkswagen Polo R WRC
23 70th Wales Rally GB Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Volkswagen Polo R WRC
24 2015 83ème Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Volkswagen Polo R WRC
25 63rd Rally Sweden Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Volkswagen Polo R WRC
26 29° Rally Guanajuato México Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Volkswagen Polo R WRC
27 49° Vodafone Rally de Portugal Jari-Matti Latvala Miikka Anttila Volkswagen Polo R WRC
28 12° Rally d'italia Sardegna Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Volkswagen Polo R WRC
29 72nd LOTOS Rally Poland Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Volkswagen Polo R WRC
30 65th Rally Finland Jari-Matti Latvala Miikka Anttila Volkswagen Polo R WRC
31 33. ADAC Rallye Deutschland Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Volkswagen Polo R WRC
32 24th Coates Hire Rally Australia Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Volkswagen Polo R WRC
33 58ème Tour de Corse – Rallye de France Jari-Matti Latvala Miikka Anttila Volkswagen Polo R WRC
34 51º Rally Catalunya Andreas Mikkelsen Ola Fløene Volkswagen Polo R WRC
35 71st Wales Rally GB Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Volkswagen Polo R WRC
36 2016 84ème Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Volkswagen Polo R WRC
37 64th Rally Sweden Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Volkswagen Polo R WRC
38 30º Rally Guanajuato México Jari-Matti Latvala Miikka Anttila Volkswagen Polo R WRC
39 73rd Rally Poland Andreas Mikkelsen Anders Jæger Volkswagen Polo R WRC
40 34. ADAC Rallye Deutschland Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Volkswagen Polo R WRC
41 59ème Tour de Corse – Rallye de France Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Volkswagen Polo R WRC
42 52º Rally RACC Catalunya – Costa Daurada Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Volkswagen Polo R WRC
43 72nd Wales Rally GB Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Volkswagen Polo R WRC
44 25th Rally Australia Andreas Mikkelsen Anders Jæger Volkswagen Polo R WRC

Dakar Rally results

Year Class No Driver Co-Driver Position Stages won
2003 Cars 215 Stéphane Henrard Bobby Willis 6th 1
203 Jutta Kleinschmidt Fabrizia Pons 8th 0
2004 204 Jutta Kleinschmidt Fabrizia Pons 21st 1
224 Bruno Saby Matthew Stevenson 6th 0
2005 307 Bruno Saby Michel Périn 5th 2
310 Jutta Kleinschmidt Fabrizia Pons 3rd 1
313 Juha Kankkunen Juha Repo DNF 0
317 Robby Gordon Dirk von Zitzewitz 12th 2
2006 301 Bruno Saby Michel Périn 8th 0
303 Jutta Kleinschmidt Fabrizia Pons DNF 0
305 Giniel de Villiers Tina Thörner 2nd 1
307 Carlos Sainz Andreas Schulz 11th 4
309 Mark Miller Dirk von Zitzewitz 5th 0
2007 301 Giniel de Villiers Dirk von Zitzewitz 11th 4
303 Carlos Sainz Michel Périn 9th 5
305 Mark Miller Ralph Pitchford 4th 0
308 Ari Vatanen Fabrizia Pons DNF 0
2008 Event cancelled – replaced by Central Europe Rally
2009 Cars 301 Carlos Sainz Michel Périn DNF 6
305 Giniel de Villiers Dirk von Zitzewitz 1st 4
307 Dieter Depping Timo Gottschalk 6th 0
308 Mark Miller Ralph Pitchford 2nd 0
2010 300 Giniel de Villiers Dirk von Zitzewitz 7th 0
303 Carlos Sainz Michel Périn 1st 2
305 Mark Miller Ralph Pitchford 3rd 4
306 Nasser Al-Attiyah Timo Gottschalk 2nd 4
2011 300 Carlos Sainz Lucas Cruz 3rd 7
302 Nasser Al-Attiyah Timo Gottschalk 1st 4
304 Mark Miller Ralph Pitchford 6th 0
308 Giniel de Villiers Dirk von Zitzewitz 2nd 1

See also

References

  1. WRC. "VOLKSWAGEN IS TO WITHDRAW FROM THE FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP AT THE END OF THE CURRENT SEASON AND TURN ITS RALLYING FOCUS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF A POLO R5 CAR FOR CUSTOMER USE". Retrieved 2 Nov 2016.
  2. "Volkswagen driver Sébastien Ogier surprises WRC rivals". vw-motorsport.de. 21 October 2012. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
  3. "Volkswagen signs Jari-Matti Latvala". vw-motorsport.de. 17 October 2012. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
  4. "Volkswagen registers second team for Mikkelsen". WRC.com. 6 March 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  5. "SS1: Ogier claims maiden stage win for Volkswagen". WRC.com. 16 January 2013. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  6. "WRC wrap: Ogier triumphs on snow". WRC.com. 10 February 2013. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  7. "WRC wrap: Ogier reigns supreme". WRC.com. 10 March 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  8. "Solberg joins VW line-up for debut of WRC2 Polo GTI R5 car in Spain". autosport.com. 20 September 2018. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  9. "Volkswagen to cease all non-electric motorsport programmes". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 2019-11-23.
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