Skip to main content

Volkswagen Off to Successful Start in Monte Carlo



  • Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia end day one of the WRC season in second place overall

  • Extremely tough conditions: wet asphalt compounds treacherous ice and snow

  • Latvala/Anttila third, Mikkelsen/Fløene seventh


Volkswagen is second and third overall following the early exchanges at the Rally Monte Carlo. Day one of the opening round of the 2015 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) saw the drivers put through their paces, as they were constantly forced to make the transition between ice, snow and wet asphalt on what were already demanding night stages. Given the conditions, the starting order was a deciding factor in whether the drivers’ stage times were good or not so good. Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (F/F), at the wheel of the new Polo R WRC, were embroiled in an exciting duel with Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena (F/MC, Citroën), which ended 1:1 after the first 40.99 kilometres of the rally. At the end of the opening day, leader Loeb and second-placed Ogier were separated by just 13.3 seconds. In third place are Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila (FIN/FIN) in the second of the second generation Polo R WRCs. Andreas Mikkelsen/Ola Fløene (N/N) ended day one of the legendary “Monte” in seventh place.



Quotes after day one of the Rally Monte Carlo


Sébastien Ogier, Volkswagen Polo R WRC #1

“Opening the route was anything but easy today. The conditions changed constantly, particularly on the first stage. Wet asphalt or black ice – you never knew exactly what was awaiting you. On the whole, there was little grip anywhere. As such, we took a particularly cautious approach and did not take any risks. That was clearly not the fastest method on the opening stage, but it was the right one.”


Jari-Matti Latvala, Volkswagen Polo R WRC #2

“I don’t think I’ve ever experienced such a difficult start to the ‘Monte’ as this evening’s first stage. It was very difficult to judge the constantly changing levels of grip. You could easily lose minutes there, so I was still quite happy with our time. On stage two, the boot came open from time to time, as the latch was broken. That irritated me a bit. Apart from that, it was a decent start to the Rally Monte Carlo for us.”


Andreas Mikkelsen, Volkswagen Polo R WRC #9

“It doesn’t get any more ‘Monte’ than it was today. Those were two incredibly difficult special stages to start the new season. The conditions changed all the time. There was a lot of ice and snow on stage one, then a lot of black ice on the second special stage. I just tried to get through safely and avoid taking any risks. We had four studded tyres and two winter tyres with us today. That was not the worst selection in the world.”


Jost Capito, Volkswagen Motorsport Director

“We saw today just how exciting and tense the ‘Monte’ can be. The duel between the two Sebs ended 1:1. Both Sébastien Ogier and Sébastien Loeb made the most of the conditions when they were out on the route. They both benefitted from their starting position on one stage, and were hampered on the other. The gap between the two of them is relatively small, by Rally Monte Carlo standards. I am sure this duel will entertain us over the coming days. However, Jari-Matti Latvala and Andreas Mikkelsen also produced solid displays in extremely difficult conditions and did not take any unnecessary risks. Given the way we have started, it is going to be an exciting ‘Monte’ for us.“


And then there was …


… a nostalgic look back. Who knows whether Volkswagen Motorsport Director Jost Capito and star guest Jacky Ickx discussed the 1985 Rally Dakar today? Their memories of it are very different in any case. Exactly 30 years ago to the day, father Karl-Friedrich Capito and son Jost won the truck competition at the legendary desert rally. Meanwhile, Jacky Ickx and his then co-driver Claude Brasseur, in their Porsche 959, were forced to retire from the car competition at the half-way point. Back then the route covered 7,470 kilometres of special stages from Paris through Algiers, to Dakar.




























































FIA World Rally Championship (WRC),

Rally Monte Carlo – Results
Thursday,

22 January 2015		km#1

Ogier/

Ingrassia		#2

Latvala/

Anttila		#9

Mikkelsen/

Fløene
SS 01Entrevaux–

Rouaine		21.31P03

(+ 30.9s)		P08

(+ 43.0s)		P13

(+ 53.9s)
SS 02Norante–

Digne-les-Bains		19.68P01P02

(+ 10.7s)		P05

(+ 23.6s)
Overall classificationP02

(+ 13.3s)		P03

(+ 36.1s)		P07

(+ 59.9s)

































































FIA World Rally Championship (WRC),

Rally Monte Carlo – TV broadcast
Western Europe
Andorra (Canal +); Austria (ORF, Servus TV, Sport1, N-TV, LAOLA1.tv); Belgium (Canal +, RTBF); Denmark (Viasat); Europe (MOTORS TV); Finland (YLE, Nelonen); France (Canal +, France TV, Léquipe 21); Germany (Sport1, N-TV, Servus TV, LAOLA1.tv, Sky); Greece (OTE); Italy (RAI, Fox Sports, Dinamica); Ireland (BT Sport); Lichtenstein (N-TV, Sport1, Servus TV); Luxembourg (Canal +, N-TV, Servus TV, Sport1); Israel (Charlton); Monaco (Canal +, France TV, Léquipe 21); Netherlands (RTL7); Norway (VIASAT); Portugal (Sport TV, RTP); Slovakia (Sport 5); Spain (Canal +, TVE, TV3); Sweden (SVT); Switzerland (Canal +, N-TV, Sport1, Servus TV); Turkey (NTV); UK (BT Sport, itv4); Wales (S4C)
Eastern Europe
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan (Auto Plus); Bosnia and Herzigovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia (Arena TV); Czech Republic (Czech TV, Sport 5); Hungary (Sport1); Lithuania (Auto Plus, BTV, LNK); Poland (TVP); Romania (Dolce Sport); Ukraine (First Automotive Channel, Auto Plus)
Middle East and Africa
Angola, Cap Verde, Mozambique (Canal +, Sport TV, SuperSport); Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, São Tomé, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe (Canal +, SuperSport); Ethopia, Mauritania, Seychelles (Canal +); Lesotho, Liberia, Mayotte, Reunion, Socotra, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, St Helena & Ascension, Sudan, Swaziland (SuperSport)
Asia Pacific
Australia (Fox Sports); American Samoa, Baker Island, Guam, Howland Islands, Jarvis Island, Kingman Reef, Micronesia, Midway Islands, Navassa Island, Norther Marianas, Palau, U.S. Virgin Islands, Wake Islands (MAV TV); China (PPTV); Indonesia (MNC); Japan (J Sports); Malaysia (Astro); New Zealand (Sky Sports, TV 3); Thailand (Truevision)
North and Latin America
Argentina, Uruguay (Channel 12, Fox Sports); Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Trinidad & Tobago (MAV TV); Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Venezuela (Fox Sports); Mexico (Fox Sports, TV4); Paraguay (Fox Sports, Telefuturo), USA (MAV TV, Fox Sports)

The post Volkswagen Off to Successful Start in Monte Carlo appeared first on VWVortex.






from VWVortex http://ift.tt/1uCnyh2

via IFTTT
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2018 Lamborghini Aventador S Roadster Review

“Supercars just don’t excite me anymore.” These words, spoken to me over a month ago by another journalist, friend, and (so-called) enthusiast were echoing in my head for far too long, but they’ve finally been drowned out. Drowned out by the wail of a naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12 engine mounted in the middle of the new Lamborghini Aventador S Roadster. My friend’s point is that back in the good old days, there was a crop of supercars that captured the imagination with amazing style, sounds, performance, and more. Today, it seems like everything is capable of supercar performance, with large luxury sedans outdoing some of the best and most dedicated teams of car nuts, while former pillars of automotive excellence are suddenly pumping out family-friendly SUVs. Beyond that, another league of supercars, dubbed hypercars have cropped up with hybrid gas-electric powertrains that make magical things happen quickly, but at the cost of the acoustic drama, visual flair, and engag...
Post a Comment
Read more

Project SportWagen: Going Stage 2 with APR

    When we last left you, the humble little SportWagen was fresh from the development process with our friends at AWE Tuning, sporting a new downpipe, exhaust and intake, allowing things to breathe a bit easier.  The car sounded great, but there was no getting around the fact that our wagon was still quite, well, slow.   While we realize that nothing we do to the Golf SportWagen at this point will make it a race car, we still felt compelled to do something .  To put it bluntly, we had a fever, and the only cure was more power. Flash forward a few hours, and we found ourselves at Waterfest, staring down APR’s palatial spread and the numerous tuned vehicles surrounding it.  Earlier in the year, APR had hinted to us that their 1.8 TSI files would be quite impressive, and based on what they were able to do with the 2.0 TSI found in the new GTI and our time in their Golf R, we knew it’d be worth the wait.  So with this in mind, we lined our G...
Post a Comment
Read more

The 10 Most Expensive VWs at Barrett-Jackson

Barrett-Jackson just wrapped up its 46th annual Scottsdale auction, which set all kinds of records, including the sale of Kindig-It Design’s 1965 21-Window Deluxe Bus for $302,500 (pictured above and below). Not only did that bus set an auction record, it was the highest priced Volkswagen in Scottsdale that week. While it outdid the next closest VW by quite a margin, it wasn’t the only high priced VW at the show. Here, are the highest priced VWs from the auction: 1. $302,500: 1965 Type II 21-Window Deluxe Bus  Featured on Velocity Channel’s Bitchin’ Rides, this microbus was completely restored by Kindig-it Design and repainted in Mercedes Black and Bentley Magnolia White. With a 1915cc 120 hp flat four out back and a 4-speed transmission, this bus sits on 17″ wheels. 2. $143,000: 1967 21-Window Deluxe Bus Not sure if you noticed a theme here, but we have another 21-window bus in black and white, but this time the colors are flipped and it has a 2,027 cc engine. Comes with a ...
Post a Comment
Read more