Skip to main content

WRC: Volkswagen Completes Tests Ahead of Opening Round in Monte Carlo

  • Ogier/Ingrassia, Latvala/Anttila and Mikkelsen/Jæger ready for the 2016 season
  • Just short of 1000 kilometres of testing with the proven Volkswagen Polo R WRC
  • 2016 WRC season kicks off with the Rally Monte Carlo in mid-January

Wolfsburg. Prepared as in the previous two years: Volkswagen has been hard at work preparing for its outing at the Rally Monte Carlo with the world championship-winning Polo R WRC and its three driver/co-driver pairings. Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (F/F), Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila (FIN/FIN) and Andreas Mikkelsen/Anders Jæger (N/N) completed roughly 1000 test kilometres in total over the course of the six-day test on the outskirts of Gap, in the French Maritime Alps. The tests focussed on set-up work and tyre tests with the Polo R WRC, which boasts the highest win ratio in the history of the World Rally Championship. The World Rally Car from Wolfsburg kicks off its fourth WRC season with the Rally Monte Carlo from 21 to 24 January. Since 2013, Volkswagen has won all nine possible World Championship titles, and has emerged triumphant at 34 of the 39 rallies. In 2014 and 2015, the three Volkswagen duos also monopolised the top three positions in the World Championship standings.

“The Rally Monte Carlo is truly legendary, for many different reasons,” said Volkswagen Motorsport Director Jost Capito. “The ever-changing weather conditions, which fluctuate between ice, snow, rain and dry conditions, make the rally precisely what Monaco is renowned for: a gamble. Furthermore, it is the first rally on the WRC calendar, meaning all the drivers, co-drivers and manufacturers start with zero points. Everyone wants to make the best possible start to the new season and take as much momentum as possible into the coming rallies. As such, tests are of great importance, in order to prepare for the tough tasks ahead. For the third time in a row, we go into the season as the team to beat, and we will be up against stronger opponents than before: Hyundai has a new car, while M-Sport-Ford has strengthened its squad of drivers and co-drivers. As such, we go into the season with heightened senses – and, thanks to the tests, with sufficient experience for the Monte.”

Taste of things to come at the ever-unpredictable “Monte” – Tests on the outskirts of Gap

Ice and snow on the one hand, freezing rain, black ice or even shiny, dry asphalt on the other – conditions at the Rally Monte Carlo are always anything but predictable. Despite a lack of snow, the tests on and around the Col de Perty near the town of Laborel were worth their weight in gold, as the team looked to adapt to at least a few of the conditions to be expected in January. The three driver/co-driver duos trialled set-up variants for the Polo R WRC and tested various combinations of the Michelin tyres to be used next year. The tests took place about 70 kilometres outside Gap, where the Rally Monte Carlo will be held from 21 to 24 January.

Three pairs of test days for Ogier, Latvala, Mikkelsen and their co-drivers

Two test days for Sébastien Ogier, two for Jari-Matti Latvala and two for Andreas Mikkelsen – the men who finished first, second and third in the 2014 and 2015 world championships. And at their side, their co-drivers for the 2016 season: Julien Ingrassia, who forms his usual partnership with Sébastien Ogier, Miikka Anttila as Jari-Matti Latvala’s trusty navigator, and Anders Jæger, who will make his competitive debut in the Polo R WRC alongside Andreas Mikkelsen at the Monte. This was Jæger’s second outing, following the tests for the Rally Sweden at the end of November.

The post WRC: Volkswagen Completes Tests Ahead of Opening Round in Monte Carlo appeared first on VWVortex.



from VWVortex http://ift.tt/1mgoN2u
via IFTTT

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Watch: The Stig Drives (nearly) Seven Generations of Golf GTI

With Volkswagen announcing “major” updates to the Golf, it seems an appropriate time to look back on what we’ve had so far. And who better to guide us through the rich history of the most popular European car ever made than Ben Collins, the former Stig? Some say he’s never met a GTI he doesn’t love, and that he can’t grow any of his own facial hair. All we know is … Ben Collins is actually a pretty solid presenter. Working his way through seven generations of the GTI (skipping over the Mk6) Collins tells us a little bit about each one and matches each mark to its corresponding facial hair craze. The Mk1 GTI for instance, is light and quick, but can lose traction under hard acceleration (in heavy rain). Despite that, Collins calls the Mk1 a “pure gem.” The Mk4, meanwhile, is a powerful return to form after the perhaps too sensible Mk3. Collins ends in the only way he could, with the Mk7, which accelerates faster than a Lamborghini Countach and is all kinds of wonderful. Watch, ...

Watch: The Story of the Ads that Made VW Big in America

The ads for the original Beetle are almost as famous and well-loved as the Beetle itself. Looking back now it’s easy to forget, though, just how easily things could have wrong. A new short from Dial M Films tracks the history of those early Volkswagen ads that sold America on the people’s car. The story, of course, begins with the visionary agency that made the ads: Doyle Dane Bernach (DDB). As a popular agency for Jewish products, no agency was more aware of the implications of Volkswagen, and no one, it seems, was more skeptical of the brand than DDB. “Remember Those Great Volkswagen Ads?” from Dial M Films on Vimeo . William Bernbach, though, was adament that the firm take the client, probably as a way of attracting other lucrative automotive clients. Saddled with a client that he didn’t want, art director Helmut Krone says in the film that he originally came up with ads that were all wrong. Krone tried to do what other manufacturers did and was intent on selling the Beetle ...

Watch: The Zerouno Cruis’n USA

ItalDesign is drumming up excitement for its new supercar based around the same 5.2-liter Audi V10 that powers the R8. Naturally, it hit the road for a cruise around California last week to celebrate Monterey Car Week. There isn’t much in the way of V10 noise—which is a real shame given the sound it makes—but you do at least get a good look at the car inside and out in this video. With a body made entirely of carbon fiber and designed to be as aerodynamic and light as possible, ItalDesign figures that it will be good for a 0-60 time of just 3.2 seconds. “We put it our best skills into the production of the first car,” said Massimo Bovi, head of pre-series production, when the Zerouno was first unveiled in Geneva earlier this year. “Using some of the finest productions methods and engaging our high-skilled workers.” The car features clever aero tricks gleaned from single-seat racing, like a y-duct up front to improve downforce and turn-in. Available in a number of trim levels, the...