Andreas Aigner and Klaus Wicha win the PWRC title for the Red Bull Rallye Team!

A great day for Austria – and most of all for Red Bull in the World Rally Championship!

After another overall WRC win by Sebastien Loeb, Red Bull Citroen was also able to clinch the constructors title today – and Andreas Aigner completed this success story by winning the PWRC title!

It was four years ago that Red Bull began its "Rally Driver Search", an arguably unique project in rallying. Together with BRR and Raimund Baumschlager they had the vision to lead a young talent from zero to hero – and today this vision became reality!

Andreas Aigner – picked out of about 400 drivers back then – again showcased his steady nerves on today’s final leg of Wales Rally GB, keeping a cool head and finding the perfect combination of speed and safety to eventually even take second place in the PWRC behind Sweden’s Patrik Flodin with his German co-driver Klaus Wicha in a Mitsubishi Evo IX – and this position was good enough for the 24 year old Styrian from Weissenbach near Liezen to fulfil his great ambition!

Andreas Aigner: "Fantastic, just wicked – absolutely the most beautiful and marvellous day in my career. The initial position prior to the rally was really less than ideal for us – but I never stopped believing – and now here it is, the title. I probably won’t be able to fathom it all for a few hours. Conditions were incredibly difficult. Of course, we also had the necessary luck – and a car that was running really well. My thanks to the entire BRR crew. They have really done a great job."

Klaus Wicha: "This is certainly the best and greatest success in my long career as a co-driver. I’m delighted for Andi, he really deserved it."

Team boss Raimund Baumschlager: "A wonderful day for all of us. This title is a just reward for years of hard work – our plan has worked out beautifully. My compliments to Red Bull, they gave Aigner the time he needed to get to the very top. But I would also like to thank the entire crew today – from the drivers to the mechanics and all the people who accompanied this project. I very strongly hope that Andreas has now also attracted the persistent attention of the factory teams."

Bernardo Sousa (POR)/Jorge Cavalho (POR) – Mitsubishi EVO IX restarted today’s final leg with a huge time deficit, the Portugueses performed well to finish ninth, just missing out on the points.

Daily log of Aigner/Wicha: PWRC/overall

SS 16: Rheola 1 27.96 km P 03/16

SS 17: Port Talbot 1 20.09 km P 05/20

SS 18: Rheola 2 27.96 km P 04/17

SS 19: Rheola 2 20.09 km P 04/19

Daily log of Sousa/Cavalho: PWRC/overall

SS 16: Rheola 1 27.96 km P 05/20

SS 17: Port Talbot 1 20.09 km P 06/21

SS 18: Rheola 2 27.96 km P 07/22

SS 19: Port Talbot 2 20.09 km P 06/22

Final PWRC classification, Wales, after SS 19:

P1 Flodin/Bergsten (SWE) Subaru Impreza 2:56:01.3 hours

P2 Aigner/Wicha (AUT/GER) Mitsubishi EVO IX + 1:42.1 minutes

P3 Wilks/Pugh (GB) Mitsubishi EVO IX + 2:07.7 minutes

. . . . . .

P9 Sousa/Cavalho (POR) Mitsubishi EVO IX + 33:59.4 minutes

www.redbullrallye.com

-Thomas Blazek, Christian Kuda-  also photo
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