Ogier makes it a Rally Poland double

WARSAW, Poland - World Rally champion Sebastien Ogier won the Rally of Poland for the second year in a row on Sunday (July 5) to take his winning tally for the season to five out of seven rounds.

The Frenchman, who beat Volkswagen team mate Andreas Mikkelsen by 11.9 seconds with Estonian Ott Tanak third in a Ford, now has a 78-point lead in the championship with six rounds remaining.

Ogier has 161 points to Mikkelsen's 83.

SPECIAL WIN

"This year I've had many great wins but this one is very special," Ogier told wrc.com. "I had to push from the first metre to the last."

Tanak had led briefly on Friday and fought a hard battle with Volkswagen's Jari-Matti Latvala until the Finn hit a tree on the final stage and collected a 40 second penalty for checking in late. All that dropped him to fifth.

New Zealander Hayden Paddon took fourth for Hyundai. The next round is in Finland from July 30 to August 2.

Ogier tweeted his thoughts after the victory:

"This year we had so many great wins! Here we were first on the road for 90% of the rally. It's amazing, a great achievement!"

— Sébastien Ogier (@SebOgier) July 5, 2015

"We had to push from first meter to the last one. 28 points again, I will have the perfect holidays I could have!" #RallyPoland

— Sébastien Ogier (@SebOgier) July 5, 2015

Volkswagen motorsport tweeted a picture of Ogier's rally car covered in confetti after the win:

This car needs some polish. @rajdpolski @OfficialWRC #Winning pic.twitter.com/HpoSfhe2zW

— VolkswagenMotorsport (@VolkswagenRally) July 5, 2015

Result from the Rally of Poland on Sunday (July 5):

1 Sebastien Ogier (France) Volkswagen 2hr26min11.5
2 Andreas Mikkelsen (Norway) Volkswagen +11.9sec
3 Ott Taenak (Estonia) Ford +23.0sec
4 Hayden Paddon (New Zealand) Hyundai +1min14.6
5 Jari-Matti Latvala (Finland) Volkswagen +1min24.7
6 Thierry Neuville (Belgium) Hyundai +1min44.5
7 Kris Meeke (Britain) Citroen +1min57.7
8 Robert Kubica (Poland) Ford +2min08.3
9 Mads Ostberg (Norway) Citroen +2min18.2
10 Daniel Sordo (Spain) Hyundai +2min48.4

Drivers’ and Constructors’ points after the 2015 Rally of Poland

Drivers

1 Sebastien Ogier (France) Volkswagen Motorsport - 161
2 Andreas Mikkelsen (Norway) Volkswagen Motorsport II - 83
3 Mads Ostberg (Norway) Citroen Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team - 69
4 Jari-Matti Latvala (Finland) Volkswagen Motorsport - 66
5 Thierry Neuville (Belgium) Hyundai Shell World Rally Team - 58
6 Kris Meeke (Britain) Citroen Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team - 53
7 Elfyn Evans (Britain) M-Sport World Rally Team - 53
8 Hayden Paddon (New Zealand) Hyundai Motorsport N - 44
9 Ott Taenak (Estonia) M-Sport World Rally Team - 40
10 Daniel Sordo (Spain) Hyundai Shell World Rally Team - 39

Constructors

1 Volkswagen Motorsport - 214
2 Citroen Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team - 125
3 Hyundai Shell World Rally Team - 123
4 M-Sport World Rally Team - 114
5 Volkswagen Motorsport II - 49
6 Hyundai Motorsport N - 43
7 Jipocar Czech National Team - 35
8 FWRT - 3