October 25, 2015 – Volkswagen’s Andreas Mikkelsen took his maiden World Rally Championship in Spain this afternoon as Sebastien Ogier crashed out from a comfortable lead on the final stage.
Ogier took the lead on the first day and came under threat from Jari-Matti Latvala, but he produced a commanding drive on the second and third days to enter the last stage 50 seconds ahead of closest rival Mikkelsen, who was battling for second place with his teammate Latvala.
However, a shocking last minute error from Ogier handed the lead, and thus the victory, to his VW stablemate Andreas Mikkelsen, who finished just 3 seconds of Latvala, while Hyundai’s Dani Sordo was the best-placed non-VW driver, finishing a not-so-distant third.
In WRC 2, Qatar’s Nasser Al-Attiyah was crowned champion for the second consecutive year after finishing third in the category behind winner Pontus Tidemand and runner-up Jan Kopecky; Al-Attiyah’s title rival Esapekka Lappi retired yesterday after crashing his Skoda.
| POS | NO | DRIVER | CLASS | TIME | DIFF PREV | DIFF 1ST |
| 1. | 9 | A. MIKKELSEN | RC1 | 3:21:04.8 | ||
| 2. | 2 | J. LATVALA | RC1 | 3:21:07.9 | +3.1 | +3.1 |
| 3. | 8 | D. SORDO | RC1 | 3:21:26.0 | +18.1 | +21.2 |
| 4. | 4 | M. OSTBERG | RC1 | 3:22:11.1 | +45.1 | +1:06.3 |
| 5. | 3 | K. MEEKE | RC1 | 3:22:13.0 | +1.9 | +1:08.2 |
| 6. | 20 | H. PADDON | RC1 | 3:22:28.1 | +15.1 | +1:23.3 |
| 7. | 21 | M. PROKOP | RC1 | 3:25:19.0 | +2:50.9 | +4:14.2 |
| 8. | 7 | T. NEUVILLE | RC1 | 3:29:06.7 | +3:47.7 | +8:01.9 |
| 9. | 44 | P. TIDEMAND | RC2 | 3:30:01.6 | +54.9 | +8:56.8 |
| 10. | 45 | J. KOPECKY | RC2 | 3:30:12.3 | +10.7 | +9:07.5 |
| 11. | 14 | R. KUBICA | RC1 | 3:33:19.8 | +3:07.5 | +12:15.0 |
| 12. | 38 | N. AL-ATTIYAH | RC2 | 3:34:06.9 | +47.1 | +13:02.1 |