Ogier hesitated between Ford and VW

Sébastien Ogier decided to join Volkswagen to develop the Polo R WRC in 2012 before competing for the title the following season. The Frenchman, however, hesitated to take Mikko Hirvonen's place.

Published on 24/11/2011 à 11:58

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After the announcement of Mikko Hirvonen at Citroën Racing, the new transfer for the 2012 season concerns Sébastien Ogier, which is now joining Volkswagen to develop the Polo R WRC which will be aligned with the WRC events of the 2013 season. The Frenchman, however, had the choice of taking the place of the Flying Finn who was leaving for the French manufacturer, but he ultimately turned to the German brand.

“We studied both avenues but Ford?s future seemed more uncertain”, comments Sébastien Ogier on best-of-rallylive.com. “Comparing the two, Volkswagen came out on top. Carlos Sainz insisted and managed to convince me. We will have a lot of development work, there should be 20 weeks of testing and I should compete in all the events on a Skoda Fabia S2000. It?s a bet on the future. I am not ruling out the possibility of racing the Polo R WRC at the end of the year if the team thinks we are ready. »

Discover in the next issue of AUTOhebdo the interview with Sébastien Ogier who will go into detail about his motivations and ambitions with Volkswagen.