Jari-Matti Latvala & Mikka Anttila celebrate a VW victory in Argentina
It was nothing less than Volkswagen’s greatest single victory in the history of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC). In extremely difficult external conditions, Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila (FIN/FIN) and Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (F/F) celebrated a hard-fought one-two victory in the Polo R WRC at the Rally Argentina. Andreas Mikkelsen/Mikko Markkula (N/FIN) completed the German factory team’s triumph by claiming fourth place. Crowds of enthusiastic fans lined the route of SS 14, holding their breath as Latvala and Ogier repeatedly fought it out to win the fifth round of the season. Mikkelsen also helped to make the event a resounding success for Volkswagen by doggedly working his way up the leader board. Taking first and second place further extends Volkswagen’s lead in the Manufacturers’ Championship. Following the Rally Argentina, the three Volkswagen duos are now also at the top of the table in the Drivers’ and Co-Drivers’ Championship. The event marked Jari-Matti Latvala’s tenth win in the World Rally Championship and his third in Volkswagen’s colours.
Latvala vs. Ogier, Ogier vs. Latvala – a duel to win the rally, a duel for the WRC crown
Right from the word go, spectators were treated to a thrilling duel for first place in Argentina – despite punishing external conditions. The current World Champions, Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia, got off to the better start, claiming the first two Special Stages. Then Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila launched their counterattack during the rally’s longest stage. The pair took the overall lead by putting in the best time on the “Ascochinga–Agua de Oro” section, which is almost 52 kilometres long. Before the first day’s rallying had finished, first place changed hands twice more between Latvala and Ogier. Latvala dominated on Saturday and Sunday, gaining the upper hand in the duel with eight wins to Ogier’s one over the two days. Following five of the season’s 13 rallies, the battle between Ogier and Latvala is also dominating the battle for the WRC title. With his win, Latvala closed the gap in the World Championship standings to 24 points.
The flying Fins making waves in difficult conditions in Argentina
A setback and a fightback: Mikkelsen plays catch-up
The weekend’s most impressive fightback came from Andreas Mikkelsen/Mikko Markkula. The Norwegian–Finnish Volkswagen duo suffered a setback on the very first day of the Rally Argentina when a belt flew off their alternator – sheer bad luck. They finished seventh rather than third and were hit by a five-minute penalty instead of vying for the lead. However, Mikkelsen/Markkula didn’t give up. On Saturday, they overtook three of their rivals by setting the best time on one stage and bagging two other top three times. This halved the gap to second place to less than two minutes. A conservative but successful strategy came into play on Sunday: Mikkelsen/Markkula cleverly secured fourth place with good results on the two classic stages “Mina Clavero” and “El Condor” and managed to finish just 23.6 seconds shy of a podium place rather than their original 3:21.3 minutes. It is interesting to note that Mikkelsen/Markkula would easily have secured a spot on the podium with their performance alone, had it not been for the time penalty.
The backbone of the team: Volkswagen’s service mechanics are the key to success
The Rally Argentina is not just a WRC classic – it also has a reputation for being the toughest test of both man and machine. In 2014, heavy rain and storms in the weeks leading up to the event meant the tracks were badly eroded and very rough. Countless cross-ditches and deep potholes put all of the teams’ World Rally Cars to the test. However, the Volkswagen drivers’ equipment remained in great shape throughout the competition, thanks to the team’s service crews. Volkswagen’s experienced mechanics used the three services on each day of the rally – one in the morning (15 minutes), one at lunchtime (30 minutes) and one in the evening (45 minutes) to make sure the three Polo R WRCs were always ready to face the forthcoming stages.
Jari-Matti Latvala, Volkswagen Polo R WRC #2
“Of course I’m absolutely thrilled to have won the Rally Argentina. It’s been quite a few years since a Finn won this rally. Fighting it out with Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia was great. My co-driver Miikka Anttila contributed enormously to our success because his instructions safely guided us through some extremely difficult sections. We have done of lot of analysing and working on ourselves over the last few weeks and months, and it paid off here. Huge thanks go to the whole Volkswagen team too, because our Polo was always perfectly prepared and withstood the immense strain right until the end. This victory means a lot to me personally because we won this tricky rally on our own merit, which shows that we’re still a force to be reckoned with in the World Championship.”
