Victory at the Rally Germany went to Volkswagen for the second year in a row. As they did last year, Sebastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia won Round Nine of this season's FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) with the Polo R WRC, making full use of the slight advantage that came with opening the route on the first all-asphalt race of the year. Extremely difficult conditions, ranging from dry asphalt to wet concrete, made tyre selection a real challenge all weekend. Ogier and Ingrassia produced a display worthy of world champions to extend their lead in the Drivers' and Co-Drivers' Championship by 14 points to 59.
Their closest rivals, Andreas Mikkelsen and Anders Jaeger missed the podium in a thrilling finale and ultimately had to settle for fourth. Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila, in the third Polo R WRC, recovered from a damaged gearbox on Friday to score two bonus points on the closing Power Stage. They also fought back to finish eighth in the WRC class and contributed to Volkswagen taking a big step towards defending its title in the Manufacturers' Championship.
"Winning the ADAC Rally Germany again is a great success for Volkswagen and an important step towards defending the title in the World Rally Championship," said Dr. Frank Welsch, Member of the Board of Management of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand with responsibility for Development, who visited the works team in Triera alongside Christian Eisenlohr, General Secretary, Volkswagen Passenger Cars. "The Rally Germany once again lived up to its reputation as being particularly challenging. Our entire team did an outstanding job in front of our home fans, and I would like to thank them for that," said Welsch.
