The unbeaten history made by this Frenchmen, for the tenth year in a row, Sébastien has been named the champion of the World Rally Championship. Only it's probably not Sébastien you were expecting. Dethroning Sébastien Loeb from his WRC reign is 29-year-old Sébastien Ogier and his Volkswagen Polo R WRC.
Loeb chose to compete in ‘selected events’ in 2013, opting to race in the Monte Carlo, Sweden and Argentina and France events. He finished first, second, first and seventh respectively. Meanwhile, as Loeb was trying his hand at GT3 racing in a McLaren MP4-12C and readying his WTCC challenge, Ogier romped to victory with almost three full events remaining. VW is leading the constructors’ title race and is odds-on favourite to take the title – the first rookie manufacturer ever to do so.
According to Car Magazine, the championship for Ogier and co-driver Julien Ingrassia is already wrapped up, despite there still being three races left in the season, including this weekend's Rally de France. Prior to this year, Ogier had won seven rally events, and he has almost matched that total in just this year, with 6 wins over 10 events.
Ogier and his co-driver Julien Ingrassia (also of France) took an unassailable lead in the driver’s chase at their home event of Rally France, after winning the opening Power Stage. That followed a slight scare in the pre-event shakedown, when their Polo was blocked by a hydraulic traffic barrier being accidentally raised in the car’s path. The things they’ll do to make WRC watchable.
Loeb won his first championship in 2004 and held that title through the 2012 WRC season. To be fair, though, Loeb has been taking on some extracurricular activities outside of WRC including a record-breaking run at Pikes Peak this summer.
The VW Polo R WRC is powered by a 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine, which, as per the regulations, uses the same block and head gasket as a production Polo TFSI. The turbocharged motor develops 300bhp, which is delivered to all four permanently driven wheels via a six-speed sequential racing transmission, and front and rear limited-slip differentials.
Although almost entirely stripped of a regular Polo’s creature comforts, the FIA-spec steel roll cage and 20mm wider bodywork (plus that bulletproof AWD system) mean the Polo R WRC is no lighter than a common-or-garden showroom Polo, at 1200kg.
It’s a good deal faster though: depending on gearing it’ll sprint to 60mph in less than four seconds, and top speeds in competition can top 120mph, over just about any surface.
Former VW chief engineer and current Vw Group motorsport supremo Dr Ulrich Hackenburg said of the win: ‘I am proud that our WRC project, which we launched over two years ago, has already yielded a title today. With Audi winning the DTM on Sunday and the WRC title today, this is the perfect end to what, for me personally, has been my most successful week in motorsport to date.’
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