First win by VW in WRC return
2013-02-10 18:16
FIRST WIN FOR VW: France's Sebastien Ogier (right) and co-driver France's Julien Ingrassa celebrate on their VW Polo after winning the 2013 WRC Rally of Sweden. Image: AFP
Author: ALAN BALDWIN
HAGFORS, Sweden - French driver Sebastien Ogier won the Swedish leg of the 2013 World Rally championship on Sunday (Feb 10), the second round of the season, to take the championship lead.
It was the first victory for the VW team and their Polo car.
Ogier, 29, took the lead from Citroen's nine-times World champion compatriot Sebastien Loeb on Friday and stayed ahead for the rest of the event on snow and ice, rounding out the final leg with a win in the power stage for bonus points.
OSTBERG THIRD
Monte Carlo winner Loeb, who is not defending his title and only contesting four events this season, was second, 41.8sec behind his former team mate.
Norwegian Mads Ostberg was third for Ford, 42.7sec behind Loeb, with Finland's Jari-Matti Latvala - 2012 winner for Ford - fourth for VW.
The French 1-2 was the worst showing by regional drivers in the event's history. Ogier was only the second non-Nordic driver, after Loeb in 2004, to win in Sweden.
VW, which has never won the World championship, is making its return to the series in 2013.
Result from the 2013 Rally of Sweden
1 Sebastien Ogier (France) Volkswagen 3hr11min41.9
2 Sebastien Loeb (France) Citroen +00min41.8
3 Mads Ostberg (Norway) Ford +01min24.5
4 Jari-Matti Latvala (Finland) Volkswagen +01min30.6
5 Thierry Neuville (Belgium) Ford +05min06.4
6 Juho Haenninen (Finland) Ford +05min43.1
7 Martin Prokop (Czech Republic) Ford +11min25.4
8 Henning Solberg (Norway) Ford +11min42.7
9 Evgeny Novikov (Russia) Ford +13min04.7
10 Yazeed Al Rajhi (Saudi Arabia) Ford +16min27.0
