The 8 works of Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia

2013
Tenth in 2012, the Gapençais spent the season racing in a Skoda Fabia S2000 while intensively testing the future cutting-edge weapon of the WRC : the Volkswagen Polo R. From its first appearance, at Monte-Carlo, the German car took second place behind the newly retired Sébastien Loeb. Success came from his second outing, on the atypical terrain of Sweden. From there, Sébastien Ogier will take the lead in the championship, signing nine successes, 11 podiums, 111 scratch times (46,83% of the season), and 290 points under his belt in the world championship: this is the WRC record at that time.

Ogier-Ingrassia Rally of Great Britain 2013. © BASTIEN BAUDIN / DPPI

2014

The Frenchman continues his momentum. If the decor of the Polo changes very little, the domination only becomes stronger. While according to the adage, a title is more difficult to defend than to obtain, Sébastien Ogier is riding on the competition. The arrival of Hyundai does not change anything in the matter (only one success against 13 in 14 rounds for the German brand), and his teammate Jari-Matti Latvala is never able to seriously worry him, the fault of a lack of regularity usual for the Finn.

The French are titled before the end of the season in Catalonia. © Bastien Baudin / DPPI

2015
New look for an identical life, that of a world champion. Julien Ingrassia, impeccable in his job as co-driver, accompanies Sébastien Ogier towards the firmaments of the WRC. The Polo R is even more efficient (new gearbox, hydraulic system, rear wing and reduced weight), and the season is one-way. No matter the surface (dirt, asphalt, snow), the French crew collects the trophies. Jari-Matti Latvala can only see his defeat.

Volkswagen scores a hat-trick on its German soil and Ogier-Ingrassia pockets another success. © Bastien Baudin / DPPI

2016
The WRC begins to purr. VW and Ogier are the equivalent of the tandem Ferrari et Schumacher in the early 2000s in Formula 1, which in no way detracts from the merit of this exceptional association. This is undoubtedly the most successful season of the Volkswagen era. Proof of this is the dolphin Thierry Neuville is behind by 108 points! Proof of their regularity, the number 1s see the finish in each of the 13 meetings. However, the German giant paid the price for Dieselgate and decided to go small for a while. As a result, Volkswagen Motorsport withdrew in disaster from the WRC while the 2017 version was already well advanced. Ogier-Ingrassia find refuge during the winter near M-Sport. The second chapter can begin.

2017

It is the victory of David against Goliath. After the withdrawal of Volkswagen, Ogier and Ingrassia made the extremely daring bet of joining the private M-Sport team, despite the withdrawal of Ford. A huge risk taking in the face of the behemoths that are Citroën, Hyundai and Toyota. Although the Gapençais only wins twice (compared to 4 at Neuville!), he has had a season of extreme consistency with 9 podiums acquired in 13 rallies. This fifth world title allows him to overtake Juha Kankkunen and Tommi Mäkinen (4), and thus become the second most successful driver in the WRC. 

And 5 for Sébastien Ogier, who won in his first year with M-Sport! © Francois Flamand / DPPI

2018

This was the most difficult title to achieve. Rarely in recent seasons has the suspense been so strong for the title to be awarded before the last round. Particularly challenged by Thierry Neuville and Ott Tänak, the French driver was 23 points behind the Belgian with three rounds remaining and 10 behind the Estonian. But thanks to a strong end to the season and their nerves of steel, Ogier and Ingrassia won their sixth win in Coffs Harbour. A superb farewell gift addressed to M-Sport before joining Citroën. 

At the end of the suspense and a year full of twists and turns, Ogier and Ingrassia got the better of Neuville and Tänak in Australia. Here, Malcolm Wilson celebrates the title with his two protégés. © Gregory Lenormand / DPPI

2020

After losing a title for the first time since 2013, the Gapençais leaves Citroën and returns with a vengeful spirit to Toyota. This time, the resistance is internal since it is his teammate Elfyn Evans who is giving him a hard time. Before the Monza Rally, the last of the year, the Tricolore was even 14 points behind the Welsh! But thanks to his mental toughness, the Frenchman got the job done and won the rally while Evans crashed out on Saturday afternoon, ending his season in a ravine, his title hopes with him. As in 2018, Ogier made the difference in the final moments. He joins Kankkunen in the pantheon, until now the only driver to have won titles with three different manufacturers. 

At Monza, Ogier took advantage of Elfyn Evans' setbacks to win a 7th championship title. © Grégory Lenormand / DPPI

2021 

This is the eighth and final title, since Sébastien Ogier announced that this was his last full year in the WRC. The Toyota driver was indeed crowned this Sunday at Monza, resisting the pressure put on by his teammate and competitor for the title Elfyn Evans. After winning four of the first six rounds of the season, the Habs quickly made a mattress, the thickness of which, however, decreased in the second part of the season (no victory since Kenya), leaving it within reach of rifle of Elfyn Evans before the last Italian round. At Monza, the Frenchman knew he had to concede no more than 17 points to his Welsh rival to be crowned. But he did better by winning the rally, adding panache to his quest. The Gapençais therefore punctuates his full-time WRC adventure with eight championship titles, one less than his glorious elder Sébastien Loeb. Possible heading towardsEndurance for the Gapençais as proven its successful test with the Toyota Hypercar in Bahrain, while his sidekick Julien Ingrassia hangs up his helmet for good. Hats off, gentlemen!

Medhi Casaurang-Vergez and Jérémy Satis