Volkswagen’s top 10 greatest hits in the WRC

On its very first rally, the Polo R WRC won its very first stage – courtesy of Sebastien Ogier. Talk about starting as you meant to go on

Ogier didn’t have to wait long to claim his first rally win with the Polo R WRC. That would be the 2013 Rally Sweden: only the second rally of the new car’s career.

Winning a championship is always good. Winning a championship at home is even better: Ogier wrapped up his and Volkswagen’s first title in France.

What’s the best way to celebrate winning a rally? Spraying Champagne? Doing a somersault? Or – as Ogier did after winning the 2014 Rally d’Italia – jumping in the harbour at Olbia?

What do you do after your driver has won the title in the team’s first year? You make sure that you finish the following season with your drivers in first, second and third. Take that…

For a team that has won everything, Volkswagen were never very good at winning their home rally in Germany. Ogier finally won it in 2015 (and again this year): a distinct improvement from 2014, when he got the chance to sample German hospital food.

Andreas Mikkelsen took on a fellow Norwegian, downhill skier Aksel Lund Svindal, in a race through the Norwegian fjords to catch the last ferry of the day from Lyseveien. Mikkelsen used his Polo while Svindal used his skis. Then the skier hitched a ride in the Polo – complete with ski-carrier attached to the roof…

The most radical Polo ever yet built, the 2017 WRC, broke cover and began testing with two-time world champion Marcus Gronholm. It looks awesome: if Volkswagen had been around in the Group B era, this is what they would have built.

After the rally, Jari-Matti Latvala decided not to pick on someone his own size and instead race a giant Dakar Kamaz truck over the most famous stage of his home event: Ouninpohja. Nice.

The winning machine that is Ogier kept up his record of claiming every title he has won with a rally victory. It was championship number four for Ogier and win number 42 for Volkswagen: the meaning of life.