Ogier & VW Acclaimed at Autosport Awards
The reigning World Rally champion Sebastien Ogier was named as Rally Driver of the Year for the second year in succession at last night's glittering 2014 AUTOSPORT Awards ceremony held at the Grosvenor House Hotel in the heart of London's Mayfair.
During 2014, Volkswagen dominated the championship with Ogier beating his team-mate; Jari-Matti Latvala to the title by impressively claiming 8 overall rally victories from the team's 12 victories, scored from 13 rallies. With teammate Latvala improving all the time and his disappointing performances in Finland and Germany, Ogier had to dig deep into his past championship winning experience to hold off a resurgent Latvala but eventually secured the title with a round to spare in Spain.
To complete a dream year for Volkswagen, the all-conquering Polo R WRC was voted the Rally Car of the Year by AUTOSPORT readers and the award was graciously accepted by Jost Capito, VW Motorsport boss. The German manufacturer achieved a title hat-trick in the first year of the Polo programme in 2013, but stepped up another gear this season with Sebastien Ogier and Jari-Matti Latvala taking victory in a total of 12 out of the WRC's calendar of 13 rounds.
Ogier, Latvala and team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen impressively filled the top three positions in the 2014 championship and all three drivers have now re-signed for 2015, when VW must rank as the WRC championship benchmark and favourite. Other cars featuring as Volkswagen's opposition for the AUTOSPORT Rally Car of the Year Award included WRC rivals Citroen, Hyundai and M-Sport Ford. Also on them list was the Porsche 911 that is spearheading the FIA's R-GT push and of course the charismatic Dakar Rally winning MINI.
8th December, 2014