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Latvala heads a Volkswagen 1-2-3

24.05.15

Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila claimed their first victory of the 2015 FIA World Rally Championship season today, winning Vodafone Rally de Portugal and heading a Volkswagen one-two-three. The Finnish duo beat reigning World Champions Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia by 8.2 seconds while Andreas Mikkelsen and Ola Floene claimed third and the team’s third clean sweep of the podium positions.

In the FIA World Rally Championship, Ogier continues to top the table and has 42 points in hand to Mikkelsen. Østberg slips to third and Kris Meeke now lies fourth in the Drivers’ Championship. In the Manufacturers’ Championship, Volkswagen Motorsport’s maximum points put them 43 points ahead of the Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team.

Today’s route was by far the shortest with just 54.65 competitive kilometres, but it included two runs over the legendary Fafe stage where tens of thousands of fans flocked to see spectacular action. Starting a four-way fight with a 9.5 second advantage, Latvala lost a couple of seconds to Ogier in the opening stage, the Frenchman seizing the opportunity to challenge for a fourth victory this year. However, Latvala powered back in the following stage, setting the fastest time and crediting the confidence boost to co-driver Anttila. In the closing Power Stage, Ogier may have set the fastest time and claimed the three additional Championship points, but Latvala’s second-fastest time was enough to secure the duo their first win since the 2014 Rallye de France. Andreas Mikkelsen, who started fourth this morning, moved ahead of Meeke in the first stage and the Ulsterman’s hopes of regaining the position were thwarted when he broke the rear anti-roll bar on the second stage. Meeke nevertheless claimed a fine fourth, having matched the pace of the Volkswagens throughout the rally.

Ott Tanak has enjoyed a great run in Portugal in the all-new Ford Fiesta RS WRC and the Estonian finished fifth with a comfortable margin over Hyundai’s Dani Sordo. The Spaniard, in sixth, fought hard to stay ahead of Mads Østberg and the rivals finished the event split by just 4.3 seconds. Hayden Paddon lost one position and slipped to eighth, Robert Kubica rounded off a good run with ninth and Martin Prokop claimed 10th.

In the FIA WRC 2 Championship, Nasser Al-Attiyah and Matthieu Baumel won the category, their second victory of the season, and Quentin Gilbert and Renaud Jamoul took the win in the FIA Junior and FIA WRC 3 Championships, their second consecutive maximum points haul.

The sixth round of the FIA World Rally Championship takes the contenders to the island of Sardinia for another all-gravel event, Rally Italia Sardegna (11-14 June).

Vodafone Rally de Portugal – Final Unofficial Results (subject to scrutineering)

1.   Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila

Volkswagen Polo R WRC

3hr 30min 35.3sec

2.   Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia

Volkswagen Polo R WRC

3hr 30min 43.5sec

3.   Andreas Mikkelsen/Ola Floene

Volkswagen Polo R WRC

3hr 31min 03.9sec

4.   Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle

DS 3 WRC

3hr 31min 24.0sec

5.   Ott Tanak/Raigo Molder

Ford Fiesta RS WRC

3hr 32min 32.1sec

6.   Dani Sordo/Marc Marti

Hyundai i20 WRC

3hr 33min 03.2sec

7.   Mads Østberg/Jonas Andersson

DS 3 WRC

3hr 33min 07.5sec

8.   Hayden Paddon/John Kennard

Hyundai i20 WRC

3hr 33min 29.6sec

9.   Robert Kubica/Maciej Szczepaniak

Ford Fiesta RS WRC

3hr 35min 14.4sec

10. Martin Prokop/Jan Tomanek

Ford Fiesta RS WRC

3hr 38min 06.5sec


FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers (after 5 of 13 rounds)

Sébastien Ogier (FRA)

105 points

Andreas Mikkelsen (NOR)

63 points

Mads Østberg (NOR)

57 points

Kris Meeke (GBR)

47 points

Jari-Matti Latvala (FIN)

46 points

Elfyn Evans (GBR)

41 points

Dani Sordo (ESP)

38 points

Thierry Neuville (BEL)

35 points

Martin Prokop (CZE)

27 points

Ott Tanak (EST)

23 points

Hayden Paddon (NZL)

14 points

Khalid Al Qassimi (ARE)

8 points

Sébastien Loeb (FRA)

6 points

Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT)

6 points

Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari (QAT)

6 points

Diego Dominguez (PRY)

4 points

Yurii Protasov (UKR)

2 points

Nicolas Fuchs (PER)

2 points

Robert Kubica (POL)

2 points

Gustavo Saba (PRY)

2 points

Jari Ketomaa (FIN)

1 point


FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers (after 5 of 13 rounds)

Volkswagen Motorsport

146 points

Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team

103 points

Hyundai Motorsport

94 points

M-Sport World Rally Team

81 points

Jipocar Czech National Team

34 points

Volkswagen Motorsport II

30 points

Hyundai Motorsport N

13 points

FWRT srl

3 points