German car manufacturer Volkswagen "confirmed that it will remain in the World Rally Championship for another five years until '19," according to KURIER. VW first joined the WRC in '13 with the Polo R WRC and "won the drivers, co-drivers and constructors title in the inaugural season." Since VW entered the world championship, it "has won 16 out of 19 races." Defending champion and current championship leader Sebastien Ogier "celebrated his 13th victory with VW at the Rally Italy on Sunday" (KURIER, 6/10). RACER reported that Volkswagen's "initial commitment to the series was scheduled to end next year." Team Principal Jost Capito said, "Volkswagen has never implemented a long-term motorsport program on this scale before." He added that while VW's decision was made, the company "still wanted to see more media coverage from the WRC." Capito: "A prerequisite for the success of the championship itself is a format optimized for TV, in order to make rallying even more attractive for the general public. We call upon the promoters to work together with the manufacturers to significantly increase the media coverage of the series" (RACER, 6/10).
