Volkswagen One-Two on Rally Poland
The Volkswagen WRC team filled the top two podium positions on 2015 Rally Poland with Sebastien Ogier claiming his fifth victory of the 2015 World Rally Championship and Andreas Mikkelsen making it a VW one-two after another commanding performance. M-Sport's Ott Tanak finished third in his WRC Fiesta, his task made easier after Jari-Matti Latvala ran wide in a corner on the final stage and hit a tree, although the Finn still held fifth place in the results after a penalty for crash repair work.
Hayden Paddon could not replicate his Sardinia success, but worked his way up to fifth; which became fourth after Latvala's repair penalty, in the best of the Hyundais. His team-mate Thierry Neuville gave chase all weekend, then rolled on the penultimate stage, though he continued with minimal time loss in a battered car to clinch sixth. Robert Kubica battled the Hyundais for much of the event in one of his most consistent gravel rallies yet, although a puncture from an impact with a rock on the final stage dropped him to eighth. A string of close second places on the three runnings of the superspecial had entertained and delighted his fellow countrymen.
It was a terrible weekend for Citroen which began with Kris Meeke crashing heavily on the shakedown, but he initially challenged for the top five in his repaired car before his pace faded and he only picked up seventh after Kubica was delayed. Meeke at least outpaced team-mate Mads Ostberg, who was never in the hunt and spent the weekend battling the similarly muted Hyundai of Dani Sordo. Elfyn Evans was the only World Rally Car retirement, his M-Sport Ford's water pump breaking on Saturday, although Hyundai's fourth driver Kevin Abbring was delayed with two incidents on leg two.
Final Results:
Pos - Driver - Team - Car - Gap
1 Sebastien Ogier Volkswagen Motorsport Volkswagen 2h26m11.5s
2 Andreas Mikkelsen Volkswagen Motorsport II Volkswagen 11.9s
3 Ott Tanak M-Sport World Rally Team Ford 23.0s
4 Hayden Paddon Hyundai Motorsport N Hyundai 1m14.6s
5 Jari-Matti Latvala Volkswagen Motorsport Volkswagen 1m24.7s
6 Thierry Neuville Hyundai Motorsport Hyundai 1m44.5s
7 Kris Meeke Citroen Total Abu Dhabi WRT Citroen 1m57.7s
8 Robert Kubica RK World Rally Team Ford 2m08.3s
9 Mads Ostberg Citroen Total Abu Dhabi WRT Citroen 2m18.2s
10 Daniel Sordo Hyundai Motorsport Hyundai 2m48.4s
5th July, 2015