Barcelona, Spain - Sebastien Ogier took his second consecutive World Rally Championship title for Volkswagen on Sunday after winning the Rallye de Espana.
Ogier, who had led for most of the four-day event, beat Finnish team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala by 11.3 seconds to retain the title with one round remaining.
The Frenchman, who became the eighth man to win multiple championship titles and just the fifth to claim back-to-back titles, now has 242 points to Latvala's 211.
The 30-year-old's only difficult moment came on Saturday when he was forced to drive 20km with a damaged tyre but he held on to post the 23rd victory of his career.
The win was Volkswagen's 11th of the season and equalled the record set by Citroen in 2005 and 2008.
Ogier said afterwards: “It was my target at the beginning of the season to prove my title last year wasn't a one-off and I've done it.
“It was tough - I was pushing so hard on day one and then it was a long two days on tarmac where I had to watch Jari-Matti flying.
“I had to be clever and watch him all the time, but the car was fantastic all weekend.”
Latvala did not make things easy for Ogier on the final day, winning all four of the closing stages, cutting the Frenchman's lead from 27.3 seconds overnight to 11.3 seconds by the end of the rally.
The Finnn said at the finish: “I won in France on tarmac, but I think here I went even faster here!
"Unfortunately in the gravel stage I lost a lot of time and it was impossible to close the gap. I had prepared for the rally on the tarmac and perhaps not enough for the gravel, but I am still happy with the result."
Latvala also won the final Power Stage, ahead of Citroen's Chris Meeke and Mikkelsen, with Ogier fourth.
Volkswagen had already clinched the Constructors' title for a second consecutive year after the Rally of Australia. - Reuters, AFP
RESULTS
1 Sebastien Ogier (France) Volkswagen 3hours 46m44.6s
2 Jari-Matti Latvala (Finland) Volkswagen +11.3s
3 Mikko Hirvonen (Finland) Ford +1m42.2s
4 Mads Ostberg (Norway) Citroen +2:13.3
5 Daniel Sordo (Spain) Hyundai +2:22.2
6 Thierry Neuville (Belgium) Hyundai +4:01.0
7 Andreas Mikkelsen (Norway) Volkswagen +4:02.9
8 Martin Prokop (Czech Republic) Ford +8:06.8
9 Hayden Paddon (New Zealand) Hyundai +9:12.4
10 Nasser Al-Attiyah (Qatar) Ford +12:39.8
POINTS STANDINGS - DRIVERS
1 Sebastien Ogier (France) Volkswagen - 242
2 Jari-Matti Latvala (Finland) Volkswagen - 211
3 Andreas Mikkelsen (Norway) Volkswagen - 150
4 Mikko Hirvonen (Finland) Ford - 108
5 Mads Ostberg (Norway) Citroen - 92
6 Thierry Neuville (Belgium) Hyundai - 91
7. Kris Meeke (Britain) Citroen - 84
8 Elfyn Evans (Britain) Ford - 71
9 Martin Prokop (Czech Republic) Ford - 42
10 Daniel Sordo (Spain) Hyundai - 40
CONSTRUCTORS
1 Volkswagen Motorsport - 416
2 Citroën WRT - 187
3 M-Sport WRT (Ford) - 180
4 Hyundai Motorsport - 175
5 Volkswagen Motorsport 2 - 133