Volkswagen’s domination of the World Rally Championship would have continued unabated this season had the German manufacturer not quit the series at the end of last year, former team boss Jost Capito has insisted. Capito laid the foundations for the 2017-specification Polo R WRC and implemented what was felt a brave – and decidedly unpopular with the drivers – decision to focus all testing budget and focus on the new car through the 2016 season.
The former Volkswagen Motorsport director told Motorsport.com: “Volkswagen would have had a big advantage at the start of this season; Volkswagen started working earlier than anybody else on the ’17 regulations.
“For the last year we hardly ever tested the 2016 car, it was always the new one. The guys went to the rally with no testing in the ’16 and development on that one had stopped at the end of the 2015.
Beyond the lead time for its next-generation Polo, Capito pointed to Volkswagen’s team of drivers and co-drivers and the winning pedigree and culture present in the Hannover squad.
“We had the right three drivers [Sebastien Ogier, Jari-Matti Latvala and Andreas Mikkelsen] being carried over from 2016 to 2017,” he said.
“And when you see the guys who left Volkswagen driving other cars and complaining about these vehicles – and you know they did all the tests for the ’17 Polo – then you know that Volkswagen would have had the better package; it’s obvious from the time Volkswagen spent on the car.”
Capito made no apology for the success and the determination to maintain that record, saying: “As a manufacturer you have to do the very best you can. We were paid to win, but having said that, I think it would have been a lot closer this year than it had been in the recent season – that’s what happens when you have major technical regulation change.
“It is, though, extremely frustrating to have put our heart into the project and to be in such a good position and then not to be able to harvest the seeds we had sown. I think everybody was looking forward to seeing how the car would run.”
Former VW driver Andreas Mikkelsen, who is still working to secure a full-time WRC return, echoed those sentiments, saying: “The ’17 Polo was a very, very impressive car. And look at the world championship standings at the moment: Ogier is leading and Latvala is there and I think we would have been as well.
“So, yeah, I can see what Jost is saying – it’s just a shame the dream didn’t become the reality.”
Looking around the service park, Capito was full of praise for the M-Sport World Rally Team, a team he worked closely with when he was directing Ford’s motorsport programme.
Capito continued: “There’s no manufacturer support from Ford, Malcolm [Wilson] does it on his own and is extremely successful. He deserves credit for this.”
Source: Motorsport.com