Ogier fears lack of snow in Sweden

Sébastien Ogier will try to increase its lead this weekend at Rally of Sweden after offering Citroën Racing's 100th victory at Monte-Carlo. The six-time champion WRC will have the disadvantage of opening the road in the first stage of a snow event where he has won three times.

“It’s a rally that I’ve always really enjoyed, you get really nice sensations behind the wheel of our WRCs. Also, I hope that the conditions will be there for us to have fun, even if I am aware that making the track is often very handicapping, due to the thickness of snow covering the ice. We will also have to see how the terrain will evolve on the second passages, but I fear that with the layer of ice currently present, the land will appear quickly. In testing, the feeling went in the right direction over the kilometers and as always, we will try to do our best”, commented the one whose last success in Sweden dates back to 2016.

His teammate Esapekka Lappi, on the other hand, will be in a better position following his retirement from Monte-Carlo, which will allow him to fall back at the start of the event.

“If the conditions remain as we had them this week in testing, the layer of ice is so thin that it should quickly give way to dirt, which will require the second laps to manage their nails well., confirms the Finn who finished just off the podium last year. In any case, our position on the track is good, it's a fast track that I really like and I have the feeling that we worked well in testing. So I hope that success will be on our side this time and that our work will bear fruit. »

“After our successful start to the season at Monte-Carlo, we are obviously keen to continue our momentum and seek the podium in this event which we finished in second place last year, adds Pierre Budar, director of Citroën Racing. But we know very well that the challenge still promises to be great, and the race will once again be fiercely contested. It’s a field where confidence behind the wheel prevails, which is why over four days of testing, we tried to put Sébastien and Esapekka in the best possible condition. »

Citroën narrowly missed out on victory last year with second place in Craig Breen 20 seconds from Thierry Neuville (Hyundai).