Motorsport News Magazine 20th July 2016 Edición anterior

VW PREDICTS FIGHT TO STAY ON TOP
Volkswagen’s domination of the World Rally Championship is over, as technical director Francois-Xavier Demaison fears its competitors are set
to rebound in 2017. Since the German firm arrived in the series at the start of 2013, it has enjoyed previously unrivaled success, winning thirty of the forty six rallies the Polo R WRC has started. In its last two complete seasons, Volkswagen won all but one event. This year, however, looks like it could be heading towards being its least successful so far. Already the Polo has been beaten on three of the seven rallies run so far in 2016. In its debut 2013 season, the Hannoverbuilt World Rally Car was only defeated three times all year. While this year’s inability to match the last two is partly due to an increase in pace from Hyundai, the regulations forcing the championship leader to open the road has hit Sebastien Ogier and VW harder than anybody.