Three victories each for Ogier and Latvala.Eight stages, six victoriesan excellent return for Volkswagen at the Rally Italy. Jari-Matti Latvala in the Polo R WRC #7 won today's last stage, the 13.55-kilometre Gallura 2, posting a time of 10:39.6 minutes; the Finn was 5.3 seconds faster than second-placed Ford driver Thierry Neuville, who himself edged out Sbastien Ogier in the Polo R WRC #8 by six tenths of a second. Finishing in sixth place, Andreas Mikkelsen in car nine was 25.6 seconds off the pace.
Latvala, who had fallen back due to damage to one of his tyres in the morning loop, celebrated his third victory of the dayjust as many as the current leader Ogier has notched up by the Rally Italy's halfway point. Mads stberg had a real moment of concern, when he had an accident in his Ford. Despite the car rolling over, both driver and co-driver fortunately managed to escape unharmed.Although stberg was forced to retire, Mikkelsen remains sixth in the overall standings. Thanks to victory in SS8, Latvala has leapfrogged the Norwegian to move into fifth, an improvement of two places. At the top, World Championship leader Sbastien Ogier remains unchallenged, with the Volkswagen ace enjoying a 46.6-second advantage over Citron's Mikko Hirvonen at the rally's
Its a fantastic feeling!Statements from the Volkswagen team.
Jari-Matti Latvala, Volkswagen Polo R WRC #7 The day was actually very goodwe were the fastest in the field along with Sb and Julien. If only we hadnt had that flat tyre in the first stage. There were jagged rocks sticking out of the ground along the sides of the course after about five kilometres, and they were obviously what damaged our tyre. The tyre went flat, but we decided to carry on anyway. If we had changed the tyre, we would have had to have gone back in behind the first WRC-2 car, which had started only a minute behind usand driving in a cloud of dust would have robbed us of even more time. We gained a lot of ground in the course of the day thanks to our good times, and tomorrow we will again try to gather pace and not leave the teams in front of us in peace. The icing on the cake was the two final stages todaythe best Ive had since Ive been driving the Polo.
Sebastien Ogier, Volkswagen Polo R WRC #8That was a very good first day for us, but were still only half way through Rally Italy. The Polo R WRC is running like a dream, and we didnt have a single problem with it today. And the conditions certainly arent easythe gravel stages were especially slippery this morning. My driving style which isnt too hard on the tyres no doubt helped me to extend my lead today. The tyres are really put to the test in extreme temperatures like todays. I tried to drive as smoothly and as foresightedly as possible, and not to brake too aggressively. In general, it was important for me not to take too many risksand that will be my strategy for tomorrow too. Nevertheless, after two rallies without a win, I really want to experience that sensation again of being the one at the top of that podium. For me, one of the real highlights was Mickys Jump on the Monte Lerno stage, which was undoubtedly one of the most spectacular and highest jumps of the season. You cant recoup any lost time there, but it looks great for the spectators and we drivers love it when we go flying like that too. Its a fantastic feeling!
Andreas Mikkelsen, Volkswagen Polo R WRC #9All in all, it was a good, valuable and also challenging day for us. Were perfectly happy with our performance. We damaged the steering slightly in a hole during the very first special stage, and we had to complete two more stages like that. But the mechanics were able to fix it in the remote service during the lunch break, because we already had the spare part we needed on board. Things then went really well in the afternoon and this showed me where I can make further improvements. Knowing how to use the tyres is a major issue here in Sardinia, and this is an area in which I can definitely learn some more. I still treat the tyres much too roughly in comparison to my team colleagues. But we do have one or two ideas as to how I can adapt my driving style. I am very happy with how things have gone on day one here in Italy.
