Sainz called
for Ogier
signing

Sainz, who won the Dakar Rally for Volkswagen in 2010, works as an expert adviser for the company, while his son, Carlitos, relies on Volkswagen power for his Formula Three campaign.

“For me, Sebastien is one of the world’s three best drivers,” said Sainz, who won the World Rally Championship in 1990 and 1992 driving for Toyota.

Sainz and Volkswagen Motorsport boss Kris Nissen have always highlighted the need to sign a proven winner for their nascent team and with seven victories at world level under his belt - including five this season - Ogier certainly matches that criteria.

However, he wasn’t the only driver under consideration, largely because he was thought to be off limits due to his long-term deal with Citroen, which was terminated last week.

Having failed in its bid to lure Sebastien Loeb away from Citroen in the summer, Finns Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala, plus Citroen privateer Petter Solberg were all linked to Volkswagen, which has also assessed several young talents including Kevin Abbring, Andreas Mikkelsen, Christian Riedemann and Hans Weijs by giving them runs in its fleet of Skoda Fabia Super 2000s.