The first Volkswagen Golf GTi open took place at the weekend, where models from all generations were in attendance.

The unique event, organised in association with the UK’s largest online motoring forum – PistonHeads.com – saw the owners of 85 GTIs from across the years set their alarms extra early and ignore typically British ‘summer’ rain to make the pilgrimage to the cars’ spiritual home in Britain – the headquarters of Volkswagen UK in Milton Keynes.

Branded the first PistonHeads’ Golf GTI Open, the event drew a remarkable mix from across the four decades of the car’s existence – with everything from meticulously restored examples to flamboyantly modified GTIs converging on the brand’s UK HQ.

The honourable award for rarity went to the solo Golf GTI Mk III in attendance, while a plethora of Mk V cars – 24 to be precise – saw that iteration of the charismatic hot hatch become the most numerous on show, just pipping the Mk II of which 23 examples were on display.

Volkswagen UK supported proceedings with a mini GTI showcase of its own including a carefully restored Mk I and, bringing things bang up to date, the very first example of the already sold-out Golf GTI Clubsport S to be seen in the UK; the left-hand drive car having been loaned for the event by Volkswagen’s global headquarters in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony.

James Drake, Head of Community and Marketing at PistonHeads, said: “The PH Sunday Service is a tried, tested and hugely popular format for gathering PHers together at significant motoring-related venues nationwide to admire cars, swap ownership stories and generally bring the online forums into the ‘real world’.

“When Volkswagen suggested we consider creating a PH Sunday Service-style celebration event for the GTI we jumped at the chance and Saturday’s PH Golf GTI Open with its impressive turn-out of superb Golfs from across the years, and across the country, clearly demonstrates both the breadth of PH membership and the appeal of the GTI.”

Mike Orford, Head of Press and PR for Volkswagen in the UK, was at Saturday’s celebrations.  He said: “This inaugural Golf GTI Open has been a resounding success.  I can honestly say I’ve never seen such a varied selection of Golf GTIs in one place, and to gather them together here at our headquarters for this celebration shows the depth of feeling – love, even – British owners of this iconic hot hatch feel for their cars.”

The Golf GTI was launched to a stunned automotive audience in 1976, with the German brand initially targeting sales of around 5,000, globally, for the newly minted performance version of its already well-regarded compact hatchback.

Today, 40 years and more than two million registrations later, the Golf GTI remains a genuine icon of ‘everyday’ sporting excellence. 

The latest chapter in this exciting story, limited to just 400 examples worldwide, is the exceptional Golf GTI Clubsport S of which 150 in right-hand drive form have been earmarked for UK customers.  The 310 PS ‘ultimate GTI’ sold out here within weeks of its announcement, which came as the car claimed the front-wheel drive lap record for the infamous Nürburgring Nordschleife in an incomparable seven minutes and 49 seconds.

VW has identified cost savings of nearly €2Bn at the main brand to offset future emissions scandal costs.

Volkswagen Group has identified about 1.9 billion euros ($2 billion) in savings at its namesake car brand to help offset fines and recalls stemming from the manipulation of vehicle emissions.

The VW brand, the automaker's largest unit, plans to eliminate some variants and trim options to reduce complexity and cost, Bernd Osterloh, the automaker’s top labor representative, said Friday in a briefing with journalists at VW’s headquarters in Wolfsburg.

The pictures below are for illustrative purposes only and not to be considered as any, in part or whole, model that will be discontinued, cut back or phased out in the future - If in any doubt, please feel free to ask.

The automaker's senior executives are expected to participate in the broader savings effort with lower bonuses.

"We from the works council have long flagged the huge range of model variants and different components," said Osterloh, a supervisory board member and one of the most powererful figures at VW Group. "That brings enormous complexity and adds to costs, for example, for logistics. We can take out costs there on a large scale and don't have to talk about job cuts."

The VW brand targets a total of 5 billion euros in efficiency gains. Herbert Diess, the head of the unit, vowed to accelerate the savings program amid the mounting costs of the scandal, which VW so far has estimated will cost the company 8.7 billion euros. The VW brand also plans to reduce investment by 1 billion euros a year.

Volkswagen is grappling with an emissions scandal on three fronts: cheating software installed in about 11 million diesel vehicles worldwide with 1.2-, 1.6- and 2.0-liter engines; irregular carbon dioxide ratings on about 800,000 vehicles in Europe; and questionable emissions software in about 85,000 VW, Audi and Porsche vehicles with 3.0-liter V-6 diesel engines in the U.S.

Savings will be key as customers are balking at buying new VW vehicles because of uncertainty created by the scandal, Osterloh said.

Volkswagen executives have generally downplayed the effect of the revelations over the manipulations on customer behavior. To respond to weaker demand, the manufacturer plans to scale back production to avoid bloating inventory of unsold vehicles, said Osterloh, who represents VW's 600,000 workers to the company's management.

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New VW Chairman to asses every single model in the corporate portfolio to assess how each contributes overall.

• Support for customers top priority
• Volkswagen looks beyond current crisis
• New strategy to be unveiled in 2016

Matthias Müller, Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, has announced the five key steps to realign the Group. “We have to look beyond the current situation and create the conditions for Volkswagen’s successful further development,” said Müller in Wolfsburg on Wednesday. 

He presented a five point plan that he intends to use so that Volkswagen remains one of the world’s leading automobile manufacturers in the future. Müller is confident that “Volkswagen will emerge from the current situation stronger than before”. He announced that the cornerstones of the Group’s Strategy 2025 will be presented next year.

The Volkswagen CEO explained that his top priority is to support the customers affected by the diesel issue. “Our customers are at the core of everything that our 600,000 employees worldwide do,” he said. According to Müller, Volkswagen is working intensively to develop effective technical solutions. In contact with the Kraftfahrtbundesamt (KBA – German Federal Motor Transport Authority) the implementation is set to begin in January 2016.

Müller’s second priority is to systematically drive forward and complete the investigation into what happened. “We must uncover the truth and learn from it”, he said, adding that Volkswagen is being extremely thorough in its analysis. For this purpose,audit firm Deloitte has been engaged in addition to the steps already announced. According to Müller, those responsible for what has happened must face severe consequences.

Müller’s third priority is to introduce new structures in the Volkswagen Group. “The key point is that Group management will be decentralised to a greater extent in the future,” he said, with more independence for the brands and regions. Müller stated that the Board of Management will focus on addressing cross-brand strategies, leveraging synergies and ensuring that Group resources are used effectively. “We will review in detail our current portfolio of more than 300 models and examine the contribution that each one makes to our earnings.”

As his fourth priority, Müller is driving forward a realignment of the Group’s culture and management behavior. He noted that the pursuit of perfection, the employees’ commitment and social responsibility in the Volkswagen Group must be retained. However, he believes that changes are necessary in how Volkswagen communicates and how it handles its mistakes. “We need a culture of openness and cooperation.” Müller also called on everybody at Volkswagen to display more courage, greater creativity and a more entrepreneurial spirit in their dealings with one another.

The Volkswagen CEO announced that the fifth priority will be to transform the Group’s Strategy 2018 into a Strategy 2025. “Many people outside of Volkswagen, but also some of us, did not understand that our Strategy 2018 is about much more than production numbers. A lot of things were subordinated to the desire to be “Faster, Higher, Larger”, especially return on sales.” According to Müller, the point is not to sell 100,000 more or fewer vehicles than a major competitor. Instead, the real issue is qualitative growth. Müller announced that the cornerstones of the Group’s Strategy 2025 will be developed over the coming months, and that it would be unveiled mid-way through next year.

VW CEO Winterkorn to present new structure for automaker by October

Volkswagen Group CEO Martin Winterkorn has told senior staff that he will present a new structure for the automaker by October at the latest.

"We are preparing the company for the coming 10, 20 years," Winterkorn told 1,000 high-ranking VW employees at a meeting in the company's home town of Wolfsburg, Germany, on Thursday, with another 4,000 viewers at nearly 60 of the company’s 118 facilities worldwide watching by videocast.

“It is time to further develop our management model and rearrange structures. We must become faster, more efficient and more agile,” he said, according to Automobilwoche sources. Automobilwoche is a sister publication of Automotive News Europe.

Winterkorn made no reference to the changes under consideration but a supervisory board member said last month that the company will hold a special meeting in June to discuss further changes to its leadership structure, such as possibly aligning individual brands more closely.

Winterkorn said problem areas within the company are being tackled such as the company's flagging U.S. business, the delayed launch of a budget car for China and low profitability of the core VW brand.

"We will redouble our efforts everywhere where we are still punching below our weight. We have long since started tackling our tasks with the full support of the supervisory board," he said.

The CEO welcomed the coming arrival of former BMW executive Herbert Diess, who takes charge of the core VW brand on July 1. "He is the right man in the right position at the right time. I look forward to working with him," he told the meeting, according to sources.

Winterkorn said he still cannot understand why former VW Chairman Ferdinand Piech criticized his leadership but thanked Piech for his "enormous" contribution to the automaker.

A VW spokesman confirmed a management conference had been called Thursday on short notice.

Winterkorn's comments come as he returns his focus to business after a showdown with Piech led to the former chairman's shock ouster two weeks ago.

VW has pledged to make annual cost savings of 5 billion euros ($5.6 billion) at its passenger-car brand by 2017 as it seeks to close a profitability gap with global leader Toyota.

Henning Krogh

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From workforce to legend, the Transporter van celebrates 65 years of growth.

	From work-horse to legend
	Sketches in a notepad are basis for its success story
	11 million T-series vehicles sold worldwide

Some retire at the age of 65 – but this one is just getting started! Production of the first Volkswagen Transporter began 65 years ago and the ‘Bulli’ is still going strong today. 

The first models were built in Wolfsburg before production started at a new facility in Hannover in 1956. This date also marks the beginning of a unique automotive love story:  today, the entire model series has attained cult status. Whether hippy or tradesman – everyone is driving Transporter.

It all began in 1947 with a pencil sketch: the Dutch car importer Ben Pon saw a simple flat-bed vehicle at the Volkswagen plant and, taking it as a basic idea, he sketched the outlines of a Transporter with Beetle DNA in his notebook.

Two years later, Volkswagen Plant Manager, Heinrich Nordhoff, presented four prototypes: two panel vans, a kombi and a small bus. Nordhoff promised that the Transporter would be as uncompromising and robust as the Beetle: ‘These vehicles won't be handled with kid gloves, rather they will be treated roughly.’

Designers used the engine and axles of the Beetle. Instead of a central tubular frame of the popular family car, the bus had a unitized body that was mounted on a ladder frame. The 1.1-litre engine produced 18 kW (24.5PS) at 3300 rpm. The bus could transport up to eight people and the two rear seat rows could be removed easily to free up load space for around 750 kg of payload.

Alfred Haesner, Head of Technical Development of Volkswagen GmbH from 1948 to 1952, said: ‘Accordingly, this type of commercial delivery vehicle can be used for all branches of business, for rush deliveries and freight, e.g. as a small bus, a special-purpose vehicle, postal vehicle, ambulance or mobile station.’

Production began on 8 March 1950, in Hall 1 of the Volkswagen plant in Wolfsburg, and ten vehicles were manufactured per day. 

By the end of 1950, 8001 Transporters had already been built. Demand was enormous, especially since its affordable price made it an attractive option to tradesmen and retail businesses. The unique vehicle quickly became an export hit as well. Volkswagen buses could simply transport anything and everything: rubble and debris, mortar and building stones, breakfast rolls and bees wax, cigars and newspapers.

A Volkswagen bus with a camping box made its appearance in 1951 at the automobile exhibition in Berlin. The delivery van with a rear engine suddenly held the promise of an entirely different type of travel. For the first time, it travelled over the Alps. Later, it was driven to India when hippies discovered the ‘Bulli’ for themselves.

Four years after its production launch, the 100,000th Volkswagen Transporter came off the assembly line in Wolfsburg in 1954. By this point, there were 30 different models of the vehicle. 

Daily production in Wolfsburg was at 80 vehicles but it couldn’t produce more because the plant was already filled to capacity with Beetle production. It became clear that the Transporter needed its own plant.

Construction work began in early March 1955 in Hannover-Stöcken, and the plant was built from the ground up in just one year. In March 1956, the first "Made in Stöcken" Transporters come off the assembly line. This was the beginning of a future symbol of the ‘economic wonder years’. Today, a total of 11 million T-series vehicles spanning five generations have been produced worldwide.

Dr. Eckhard Scholz, Chairman of the Brand Board of Management of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, said: ‘The production launch of the T1 represented the beginning of a long success story that has lasted right up to today. In the past, as well as the present, there is market demand for extremely reliable, versatile and individual vehicles. We deliver them in top quality and precisely tailored to every need – whether the vehicle is for trades work, a retail or service business, family or recreation.’

Production of the new generation model, the T6, launches this year. Along with the T-series, the Hannover-Stöcken plant also produces the Amarok pick up. The successful California recreational vehicle is built not far away in Limmer. Around 12,200 people are employed at the Hannover business site of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles.

The Poznan plant in Poland (5,700 employees) produces the Transporter and the Caddy, and another plant is being built in nearby, Wrzesnia for the new Crafter. Today, a total of around 19,500 employees work for the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles brand.

EURO NCAP Awards Five stars to the Volkswagen Passat + Passat Estate

• Highest grade for Passat and Passat Estate
• Passengers and pedestrians are well protected in the event of an emergency

The independent European consumer protection organisation Euro NCAP has awarded the new Passat the maximum rating of 5 stars, meaning the eighth generation of the Passat is also considered to be one of the safest cars in the world. With this outstanding result, the new Passat follows its predecessor, which last earned the highest score in 2010.

Euro NCAP (New Car Assessment Programme) has been considered to be the most important standard for vehicle safety since 1997. The requirements were tightened again this year. The new Passat passed the demanding NCAP test series with excellent results – and thanks to a world-class security package consisting of an optimised body structure, a highly effective integrated seatbeltand airbag system and innovative assistance systems.

The overall safety rating of five stars for the new Passat is composed of the results in four sub-areas: occupantprotection for adults and children, pedestrian protection and security support.

During the extensive investigations on occupant protection for adults, which include a head-on crash test against an aluminium barrier (at 64 km/h and 40per cent overlap) as well asa side impact (at 50 km/h in the vehicle structure) and a pole side impact (at 29 km/h), the Passat received 85 per cent of the maximum rating. 

The new Passat also performed excellently in the important area of child protection and reached over 87 per cent of the attainable point total due to the standard ISOFIX andtop tether child seat anchors.

In addition, constructive details of the pedestrian protection in the new Passat were graded; these reduce the risk of injury to pedestrians. These include, for example, the design of the bumper and the bonnet.

In the Euro NCAP assessment of the safety systems, the safety-optimised head restraints, which minimise the risk of neck injuries in a rear-end collision, and seat beltwarning systems for all seats were evaluated. The "Front Assist" surroundings monitoring system including the City Emergency Braking, which isavailable from the Comfortline (SE in the UK) upwards and was incorporated in the safety systems category, were also assessed positively.

The new Passat has been available now in Germany for a few weeks and hasa wide range of series safety equipment. These include driver and front passenger airbags (with front passenger airbag deactivation) and a head airbag system for front and rear passengers including side airbags. 

In addition, the new Passat has standard series systems on board such as Electronic Stability Control (ESC) including ABS with brake assistant, Automatic Post-Collision Braking System, Tyre Monitoring Indicator and Driver Alert System.

The Volkswagen offer is rounded off by a variety of optionally available assistance systems, which will help to avoid collisions or reduce accident severity: These include PreCrash preventive occupant protection, Traffic Jam Assist, Emergency Assist as well asTrailer Assist (including trailer stabilisation).

Volkswagen takes WRC title as it completes its 13th over all win of the year in Wales

• Eighth victory of the season for world champions* Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia
• Record number of wins in one WRC season for Volkswagen
• Latvala and Mikkelsen recover well from set-backs

The icing on the cake at the end of the season – the final round of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) saw Volkswagen set a new record for the number of wins in one single season. Win number eight of the year for newly-crowned World Rally Champions* Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (F/F) presented the Wolfsburg-based manufacturer with its twelfth victory from 13 rallies. 

Ogier/Ingrassia raced into a commanding lead of over a minute on day one of three in Wales, and were then able to pace themselves intelligently on Saturday and Sunday. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila (FIN/FIN) ended the Rally Great Britain in eighth place, having lost more than three minutes after a mistake on Saturday morning. 

The extremely difficult conditions in Wales also took their toll on the third Volkswagen duo of Andreas Mikkelsen/Ola Fløene (N/N): they had offs resulting in early retirements on both Friday and Sunday. However, their fightback on Saturday was emphatic proof of what might have been, consisting as it did of five stage wins and four second places in nine stages.

A superlative season in figures

The final round of the year also brought the curtain down on what has been a fairy-tale season for Volkswagen. A series of records went to the Wolfsburg-based manufacturer in 2014. The twelfth of a possible 13 wins saw Volkswagen eclipse the previous record of eleven, held by Citroën. Volkswagen also equalled the record eight one-twos in a season, set by Peugeot back in 2002. 

And there’s more: Volkswagen also wrapped up the title in the Manufacturers’ Championship at the earliest point of the season for 25 years, as well as becoming only the second manufacturer in WRC history to provide all of the top three drivers in the Drivers’ World Championship. Only Lancia had achieved this feat before them – in 1987 and 1988. 

Not only were Volkswagen’s achievements impressive, but also the manner in which they were achieved: in 2014, Ogier, Latvala and Mikkelsen added a further 197 of a possible 249 stage wins to the success story of the Polo R WRC. In total, 23 podiums went to Volkswagen over the course of the season’s 13 rallies. Since the Polo R WRC made its World Rally Championship debut in January 2013, the powerhouse has racked up 22 victories and 41 podiums in 26 rallies. The Volkswagen drivers clocked the fastest time on 345 of the 486 special stages over the last two seasons.

XXL mud pack: extremely difficult conditions in Wales

The Rally Great Britain is not only the “Rally of Legends”, but is a legend in its own right. The ubiquitous rain and menacing fog hanging over the forests make for perilous Welsh gravel stages, the likes of which are not experienced anywhere else on the WRC calendar. Smooth in places, mostly muddy, but always slippery, the 70^th staging of this classic once again posed an extreme challenge to driver, co-driver and World Rally Car alike.

Disappointment for Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila

About halfway into the 305.64 kilometres against the clock, a mere 6.6 seconds separated the world champion* and the man who finished runner-up* in the World Championship – the rally in Wales was initially shaped by the same duel that had dominated the 2014 WRC season. The battle between Ogier and Latvala produced no fewer than three of the ten closest WRC finishes in World Championship history, with a fourth only prevented by a slight mistake. 

Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila fell victim to the perilous Welsh mud on Saturday morning, sliding into a ditch on the ninth stage of the rally – and lost over three minutes in the process. They fought back strongly on Sunday, however, winning four of the final day’s six special stages – including the closing Power Stage – to climb from tenth to eighth place.

Highs and lows: set-backs and stage wins for Mikkelsen and Fløene

The rally was to prove an emotional rollercoaster for Andreas Mikkelsen and Ola Fløene. Five stage wins and four second places on Saturday were unfortunately offset by crashes on Friday and Sunday. Mikkelsen and Fløene were always one of the cars first onto the route – no easy task at the Rally Great Britain. 

As such, a dream season ended in disappointment for Mikkelsen/Fløene. However, this does not detract from an otherwise impressive record: Andreas Mikkelsen made five appearances on the podium in 2014, including second places on three different surfaces: ice and snow (Sweden), gravel (Poland) and asphalt (France).

Power Stage: bonus points for Latvala

Volkswagen continues to dominate the Power Stage, in which extra points towards the Drivers’ and Co-Drivers’ Championship are awarded to the fastest three cars. For the eleventh time in the 2014 season the fastest time was set by a Volkswagen driver. In Great Britain it was the turn of Jari-Matti Latvala to pick up the three bonus points. 

A Volkswagen driver has picked up at least one extra point on 24 occasions this year. Volkswagen can point to a proud record since joining the championship in 2013: of the 25 Power Stages held in that time, the fastest man was at the wheel of a Polo R WRC on 19 occasions, while the Volkswagen drivers finished in the top three 44 times.

Three titles*, twelve wins – the conclusion of a demanding season

The Volkswagen team can look back on what was not only a successful, but also a demanding season, with the three World Championship titles* in the Drivers’, Co-drivers’ and Manufacturers’ competitions as a reward. The 2014 FIA World Rally Championship took team members from 20 nations to 13 rallies in 15 different countries. 

4.2 million fans now follow the works team from Wolfsburg on social networks, 101,647 fans were delighted to get their hands on signed autographs of the Volkswagen drivers, while journalists were supplied with information via 703 pages of press releases and 322,488 text messages.

In extreme conditions, from sea level up to altitudes of 2781 metres, the temperatures on the special stages ranged from minus 12 to plus 34 degrees Celsius. The turbo chargers in the three 315-hp engines completed 1.3 billion revs between the Rally Monte Carlo and the Rally Great Britain. Sébastien Ogier, Jari-Matti Latvala and Andreas Mikkelsen changed gears in their Polo R WRCs 73,211 times. Using muscle power alone, the mechanics lifted a total of 265 tons moving the roughly 1,100 tyres used. 

The engineers evaluated about 17.9 gigabytes of data from the year's 249 special stages – roughly the same as 3.2 million pages of pure text. The team members covered a total of 96,845.99 kilometres as the crow flies between the service parks and the team HQ in Hannover. The equipment for the overseas races travelled a further 46,202.62 kilometres by sea.

All with 100 percent team work.

Quotes after day three of the Rally Great Britain

Sébastien Ogier, Volkswagen Polo R WRC #1

“That is obviously the best way to end a season: with a win. We were under no pressure, as the World Championship was no longer at stake, and just wanted to enjoy the Rally Great Britain. We really had to go flat-out on Friday and had a close battle for the lead with my team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala. That allowed us to open up a big lead over the rest of our rivals. When Jari-Matti made a mistake on Saturday, it obviously completely changed the character of the rally for us. I just had to get the car to the finish line. 

However, that is anything but easy given the typical conditions here in Wales. All in all, it has been another magnificent season for Julien and me, with a fantastic team behind us. We now have a few tests and official parties before the Christmas holidays begin. A quick word on Mikko Hirvonen: I am delighted for him that he ended his final WRC rally on the podium. He has had a great career, and we will miss driving against him.”

Jari-Matti Latvala, Volkswagen Polo R WRC #2

“I can look back with great satisfaction on the 2014 season: I mounted my first serious challenge for the World Championship title, and kept the title race alive for a long time. I also won my first rally on asphalt, which was an important milestone for me. The duel with Sébastien Ogier was extremely exciting. I will carry on where I left off next season. The Rally Great Britain did not pan out as I had hoped. My goal was definitely to go for the win here in Wales. Apart from the slip-up, our pace was good. As such, I am already looking forward to next year.”

Andreas Mikkelsen, Volkswagen Polo R WRC #9

“Unfortunately that was not the end to the season I had hoped for. I would have liked to have given the team something better than two offs. However, the conditions were particularly difficult and mistakes happen quicker at the Rally Great Britain than anywhere else. I am disappointed, but I believe we matched the pace of our team-mates and could have challenged for the win. Despite this disappointment, we can still be proud of what we have achieved this season. With five podiums we have exceeded our own expectations. 

Third place in the Drivers’ Championship is the best result of my career. I am looking forward to a bit of a rest over the coming weeks, but also to the 2015 season. We are determined to be challenging for victories and podiums right from the word go. That is my goal.”

Jost Capito, Volkswagen Motorsport Director

“Twelve wins in one season – we really can look back on a successful year. We can be proud of what we have achieved, and enjoy every moment in the World Rally Championship. The Rally Great Britain has also been a great success, and Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia did everything right en route to their eighth win of the season. 

Respect to them. In contrast, Jari-Matti Latvala, Miikka Anttila, Andreas Mikkelsen and Ola Fløene did not end the season the way they had hoped. However, they can also be proud of what they have achieved. There is no chance of us resting on our laurels. The 2015 season gets underway with the Rally Monte Carlo in just 65 days, and we want to be as well prepared as possible again. Preparations have already been in full swing for a while now.”

And then there were ...

... Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen. The two Finnish M-Sport Ford drivers were contesting their final WRC rally in Wales after a career spanning 13 years. Volkswagen would like to thank them for some exciting battles and two years of fair competition.

* Subject to the official publication of the results by the FIA.

FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), Rally Great Britain – Final Results

01. Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (F/F), Volkswagen 02. Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen (FIN/FIN), Ford 03. Mads Østberg/Jonas Andersson (N/S), Citroën 04. Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul (B/B), Hyundai 05. Elfyn Evans/Daniel Barritt (GB/GB), Ford               06. Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle (GB/IRL), Citroën 07. Ott Tänak/Raigo Mõlder (EST/EST), Ford 08. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila (FIN/FIN), Volkswagen 09. Martin Prokop/Jan Tománek (CZ/CZ), Ford     10. Hayden Paddon/John Kennard (NZ/NZ), Hyundai

3h 03m 08.2s + 37.6s + 1m 03.6s  + 1m 14.9s + 1m 24.3s + 2m 03.0s    + 2m 29.7s + 2m 47.5s + 3m 43.3s + 3m 48.5s

FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), Rally Great Britain – Power Stage Results

01. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila (FIN/FIN), Volkswagen    02. Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul (B/B), Hyundai             03. Mads Østberg/Jonas Andersson (N/S), Citroën

7m 04.7s + 2.3s + 3.1s

FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), Overall Standings*

Drivers’ Championship

1. Sébastien Ogier, 267 points; 2. Jari-Matti Latvala, 218; 3. Andreas Mikkelsen, 150; 4. Mikko Hirvonen, 126; 5. Mads Østberg, 108; 6. Thierry Neuville, 105; 7. Kris Meeke, 92; 8. Elfyn Evans, 81; 9. Martin Prokop, 44; 10. Dani Sordo, 40; 11. Henning Solberg, 26; 12. Bryan Bouffier, 20; 13. Juho Hänninen, 20; 14. Hayden Paddon, 19; 15. Ott Tänak, 17; 16. Robert Kubica, 14; 17. Benito Guerra, 8; 18. Chris Atkinson, 7; 19. Pontus Tidemand, 6; 20. Dennis Kuipers, 4; 21. Jaroslav Melichárek, 4; 22. Nasser Al-Attiyah, 4; 23. Lorenzo Bertelli, 2; 24. Matteo Gamba, 2; 25. Craig Breen, 2; 26. Yuriy Protasov, 2; 27. Jari Ketomaa, 1; 28. Karl Kruuda, 1; 29. Khalid Al-Qassimi, 1

Manufacturers’ Championship

1. Volkswagen Motorsport; 447 points; 2. Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT, 210; 3. M-Sport, 208; 4. Hyundai Motorsport, 187; 5. Volkswagen Motorsport II, 133; 6. Jipocar Czech National Team, 49; 7. Hyundai Motorsport N, 28; 8. RK M-Sport WRT, 26

* provisional