Sebastien Ogier led a Volkswagen podium lockout at the World Rally Championship round in Australia to ensure the German marque secures its second WRC constructors title.
Ogier, 30, entered the final leg with a 11.8 seconds advantage over his Finnish teammate Jari-Matti Latvala. Latvala, who briefly led the rally on Saturday, decreased the gap to just 6.8 seconds but eventually had to accept defeat to the Frenchman who won his second Australian rally in succession.
“There was no better way to come back after Germany,” Ogier reflected on his fifth victory of the WRC season. “It was so disappointing to offer the team so little at home, so to deliver the first Volkswagen 1-2-3 here is a great result.”
There was some consolation for Latvala who won the rally concluding Power Stage to take three bonus points, in addition to the 18 points he scored for finishing second in the rally.
Kris Meeke in the Citroen finished fourth after being handed a one-minute penalty for cutting a corner on the second leg of the rally.
M-Sport Ford of Mikko Hirvonen, Elfyn Evans and former F1 Grand Prix winner Robert Kubica finished fifth, eighth and ninth respectively, sandwiching the i20 WRC machines of Hayden Paddon and German rally winner Thierry Neuville.
With this result, Ogier increases his points advantage to 50 points in the standings in his pursuit of second straight WRC title.
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