Friday | 26 Feb 2016

Ogier aiming to make history on WRC century

World Championship leaders Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia will make their 100th WRC start at the upcoming Rally Guanajuato México [3 - 6 March] and Ogier hopes to mark the occasion with a record-equalling win.

The pair have taken victory on the championship's Mexican round for the last three years, and a fourth next week would match Volkswagen's own record for the number of consecutive victories in the WRC.

Unbeaten since Vodafone Rally Portugal last year, Volkswagen's current tally of 11 wins in a row means in Mexico it can match its own record of 12, which was set between the rounds in Australia 2013 and Finland 2014. 

Mexico has special memories for Ogier and Ingrassia who started their WRC careers there in 2008 with a victory in the Junior World Championship category.

“Rally Mexico will be the 100th of my career. A victory would be the best way to celebrate this but it will not be easy," said Ogier.

"My career began with a victory in the Junior World Championship here eight years ago – that was a dream come true for me. The last three visits to Mexico have been very successful for us. One of the key factors is the mountain air, and our Volkswagen Polo R WRC has always dealt very well with that. I hope that this will also be the case in 2016. Julien and I will not be over-confident and will be as focussed as ever when the rally begins.”

Volkswagen Motorsport Director Jost Capito added: "The chance of claiming a twelfth straight victory and equalling our own record gives us a bit more motivation. However, we will have our work cut out at the first gravel rally of the year, due to the very strong field there. We have never shied away from a challenge, and we are looking forward to Mexico.”

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