Ogier retains World Rally title

France's Sebastien Ogier has won Rally Australia, clinching the World Rally Championship title for a third straight year.

Sebastien Ogier of France.

France's Sebastien Ogier has won Rally Australia, his third consecutive World Rally Championship. (AAP)

Frenchman Sebastien Ogier is in rare company after claiming a third consecutive World Rally Championship title by winning Rally Australia for a third straight year.

The 31-year-old Volkswagen star produced another near flawless performance to collect his seventh win of the season from 10 events and clinch the 2015 world crown with three rounds remaining.

Ogier took all four stages on Sunday to win the 17-stage Rally Australia by 12.3 seconds from Volkswagen teammate Jari-Matti Latvala of Finland, with Northern Ireland's Kris Meeke (Citroen) third, a further 20.3s behind.

He became just the fourth driver to win the world title three times, behind nine-times winner, countryman and former Citroen teammate Sebastien Loeb and Finns Juha Kankkunen and Tommi Makinen, who both won four titles.

His 31st career victory extended his dominance of the world scene since Volkswagen joined the WRC in 2013.

Latvala has two wins this year led Rally Australia after the first day but Ogier pegged him back and was 0.3 seconds ahead after day two and won all four stages on the closing day.

"So far it's an amazing season. It's the best I've ever done," said Ogier.

"This rally win is very significant. It was the most difficult rally to open the roads on.

"On paper it was impossible to win but I was determined. It's the perfect way to secure the title."

Ogier's third victory Down Under also ensured world championship hat-tricks for his co-driver Julien Ingrassia and manufacturer Volkswagen.

He now has 235 series points and leads from Latvala (134) and Andreas Mikkelsen of Norway (111).

Latvala conceded Ogier was a deserving world champion.

"Maybe on Friday and Saturday morning I was missing a little spark to fight for the victory. It wasn't enough," Latvala said.

"Seb has done an amazing job. He has been better than me."

Meeke led the rally late on Saturday before being overtaken by Ogier and he was frustrated he had not been able to grab his second win for the year.

"I've enjoyed my weekend, and being able to find a great rhythm.

"It was nice to have the little errors of the last couple of rallies now behind us. We did have road position advantage so it would have been nice to sneak in a win."


Share

3 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world