VW WRC team launches investigation into Rally Argentina failures
Volkswagen has launched an investigation into the reasons for its poorest ever showing in the World Rally Championship in Argentina last week
All three Polo R WRCs hit trouble, but the main area of concern is the fuel-related problem on the 2015-specification cars of Sebastien Ogier and Jari-Matti Latvala.
Ogier's car was halted on the first full-length stage on Friday morning, while Latvala's car stopped on the penultimate stage on Sunday.
The problem was believed to be the same and culminated in a lack of fuel going through the injectors and the car running on three cylinders.
"It seems we have problems with the power steering and fuel [injectors] and that's not normal," Ogier told AUTOSPORT.
"It looks like we have something to improve on that, but I'm sure they will find a solution.
"The team will do the necessary to correct these problems and at least I prefer to have them all in one weekend.
"We had to see some rough conditions and it's been demanding for the car, but the problem I had on Friday is nothing to do with the conditions.
"This is part of the game. It's never easy to win, it's never done and it's never time to relax. I repeat that all of the time.
"The team has a bit of work in front to solve the problem, but I really trust them to do it."
Latvala was set to save face for VW as he arrived at the start of the final day in a podium position.
But his Polo R WRC began to hit trouble the way to the first run of the El Condor stage and then stopped mid-way through the iconic test.
"The car went onto three cylinders on the way to the stage," said Latvala.
"We started, but had to stop when we had no fuel coming through. It looks the same [as Ogier's problem].
"Tough weekend for me, tough weekend for the team."
VW's third driver Andreas Mikkelsen, who will only step up to a 2015 car for the next round in Portugal, had mostly self-inflicted problems in Argentina - including damaged suspension following his SS2 puncture and power-steering trouble also related to the deflation.
He then crashed on the final stage, leaving Rally2 runner Ogier the team's only classified finisher in 17th spot, 10 places below VW's previous worst.
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