Ogier hands Volkswagen win in Wales

DEESIDE, United Kingdom — Already crowned drivers world champion, Sebastien Ogier delivered the constructors title to Volkswagen by winning the Rally of Britain Sunday. The Frenchman emerged from an epic struggle through the Welsh forest dirt tracks with Estonia's Ford racer Otto Tanak holding a razor's edge margin of just ten seconds. "I was watching my back the whole rally," said Ogier afterward. "He (Tanak) flew the whole weekend. Didn't make a mistake. I had to be perfect to win this," said Ogier, who clinched his fifth win of the season to claim a fourth straight constructors title for his German employers, having won a fourth straight world title himself two weeks ago in Catalonia. "What I did here I did for Volkswagen, without them I wouldn't have won all this," the 32-year-old said. Belgian Thierry Neuville of Hyundai was third, cementing his runners up spot in the season standings. Final standings 1. Sebastien Ogier-Julien Ingrassia (FRA/VW Polo-R) 3hrs 14mins 30.2sec, 2. Ott Tänak-Raigo Molder (EST/Ford Fiesta RS) at 10.2sec, 3. Thierry Neuville-Nicolas Gilsoul (BEL/Hyundai i20) 1min 35.4sec, 4. Hayden Paddon-John Kennard (NZL/Hyundai i20) 1:54.9, 5. Kris Meeke-Paul Nagle (GBR-IRL/Citroën DS3) 2:35.2, 6. Dani Sordo-Marc Marti (ESP/Hyundai i20) 4:02.6, 7. Jari-Matti Latvala-Miikka Anttila (FIN/VW Polo-R) 4:28.3, 8. Mads Ostberg-Ola Floene (NOR/Ford Fiesta RS) 4:38.3, 9. Stéphane Lefebvre-Gilles de Turckheim (FRA/Citroën DS3) 7:12.2, 10. Eric Camilli-Benjamin Veillas (FRA/Ford Fiesta RS) 8:19.3. Standings: 1. Sébastien Ogier (FRA) 247 points (champion), 2. Thierry Neuville (BEL) 143, 3. Andreas Mikkelsen (NOR) 129, 4. Hayden Paddon (NZL) 126, 5. Dani Sordo (ESP) 119. Team standings: 1. Volkswagen Motorsport, 355 pts (champions), 2. Hyundai Motorsport, 285, 3. M-Sport (Ford), 154, 4. Volkswagen Motorsport 2, 138, 5. Hyundai Motorsport 2, 136. — AFP