When Loeb and Ogier meet at the Monte-Carlo Rally, what does it mean?

The first meeting of the season always has particular importance. Just to get his campaign off to a good start and begin his long march towards the world title. The two Sébastiens, Ogier et Loeb of course, know well what we are talking about here, with their outrageous domination over the WRC over the last two decades. More revealing than ever, the record of victories in Rally of Monte-Carlo which the two Frenchmen hold (7 for Loeb, 8 for Ogier). But when the two stars of rallying meet on the Côte d'Azur together, what does that mean? A look back at these four editions where the two champions faced each other.

2013, Sébastien Loeb remains the boss

Sébastien Loeb wins his seventh Monte-Carlo, a record in this area (at the time) – Photo Alexandre Guillaumot / DPPI

Building on his nine consecutive world championship titles, Sébastien Loeb is starting the 2013 season at Citroën in complete relaxation. The Alsatian is preparing to compete in the championship in part, but is still lining up for his favorite rally at the start of the season. Necessarily. Sébastien Ogier, for his part, begins a new adventure at Volkswagen, and discovers a Polo R WRC that some consider cut out for the world title (rightly).

But at the heart of a first day which announces a rally that is to say the least daunting, with tricky weather conditions, Sébastien Loeb knocks out the competition, and especially Sébastien Ogier, second overall, but already relegated to 1'20. It must be said that the two compatriots are not approaching this weekend in the same state of mind. One is full and has nothing to lose, since he is no longer fighting for the championship. The other is in strategist mode, already, and does not wish to start the passages in the Col du Turini in the first positions, given the snowfall that is predicted for the rest of the weekend.

The future eight-time world champion was right. The rest of the weekend will be difficult. Many of the drivers entered made mistakes. Particularly in Turini, where the snow makes the conditions almost impassable. So much so that the last two stages of the weekend will be canceled, freezing the rankings for good. Based on experience, the two Sebastiens will finish the rally without the slightest hitch, in the places they have occupied since the start of Monte-Carlo. “It was a very difficult rally, we had all the possible conditions, conceded Loeb at the finish. We have never worn slick tires, this is probably the first time that this has happened to us at Monte Carl.”

For the seventh time, Loeb wins his favorite rally. Ogier is sailing towards his first world title. Act 1 between the two pilots will have kept you in suspense until the end.

2015, Sébastien Ogier takes over

Photo Bastien Baudin/ Austral / DPPI

A luxury freelancer now at Citroën, Sébastien Loeb returns to the roads of Monte-Carlo that he had not used since his victory two years earlier. Facing him now stands a double world champion, winner of the last edition of the rally. The duel between the two ogres of the discipline can resume.

It is to everyone's surprise that the nine-time world champion begins his weekend (after 15 months away from the WRC), taking twenty-two seconds (!) off the competition from the first special of the Rally, and even thirty to his compatriot, yet third in SS1. On the snowy roads of Digne-les-Bains, Ogier responded to Loeb during the second special and got closer to him overall, where he was now seventeen seconds behind.

On Thursday, in no less difficult conditions, Loeb went on the attack again. Ogier sets the second time in the special, but again loses fifteen seconds on his elder brother. “ The time is pretty good, estimates Sébastien Loeb upon arrival. In the fog, I trusted my notes. There was mud in places and II didn't make a mistake. » The day goes on quietly. The two Sébastiens go blow for blow, or rather, scratch for scratch. Ogier even regained the overall lead following the seventh special when Loeb, not satisfied with his tires, made a small error in a hairpin. Faced with the renewed form of his opponent over the weekend, the Alsatian intensified his passing times. But a new acquaintance comes to destroy his efforts. He lost almost six minutes during SS8 and saw his chances of securing an eighth Monte-Carl' disappear. “It’s not a real fight and it’s a shame,” will conclude Loeb, who will still finish the rally in eighth place. For Sébastien Ogier, the road to a second consecutive success is clear. The rest of the weekend will just be a long, quiet river for the Gapençais who begins his campaign towards a third coronation under the best auspices.

READ ALSO: Can Sébastien Loeb win the Monte-Carlo?

2019, return of the battle of the titans?

Photo Francois Flamand / DPPI

Back in Monte-Carlo after four years of absence, Sébastien Loeb arrives almost in unknown territory. Having just returned from a Dakar that he finished with difficulty on the podium, the Alsatian is discovering new special stages and a whole new team, Hyundai. The media excitement around the Sébastien duel is perhaps not as relevant as during the two previous editions (2013 and 2015). This is evidenced by the words of Sébastien Loeb to his friend Sébastien Ogier after Thursday's shakedown: “During the first pass, I was completely stopped. I didn't know the special, nothing... I didn't know the cash register. In the end, I rode anyway, and it wasn't great either. » (laughs).

For his part, Sébastien Ogier is on conquered ground. Five victories in the last five editions, and as many titles to his credit over the same period. This first weekend of the season should only be a formality, although the Frenchman returned to Citroën in the heart of winter after two years with M-Sport. From the first hectometers, the pre-rally trend is confirmed. Sébastien Ogier plays cautiously, but ranks second at the end of the first stage, while Sébastien Loeb already concedes fifty seconds on the leading roles. A completely normal trend for a driver who (re)discovered almost everything about Monte-Carlo and its surroundings that weekend.

But no one becomes a nine-time world champion just by chance. At 45 years old, nothing can stop Sébastien Loeb, who still achieved two scratches during the weekend, while his youngest child quietly took the lead in the rally. He even begins to dream of the podium during the stages. It would be a great performance and a great promise for the rest of the season, where the two Sébastiens will cross paths a few more times.

But first of all, it must be remembered that Sébastien Ogier had the opportunity during this weekend of 2019 to equal his elder in the Monte-Carlo prize list. A data far from trivial. The fact remains that competition is intense, leadership is contested by Thierry Neuville at each special. Only five seconds separate the two opponents at most (except during SS1). At the end of the suspense, the Frenchman will win for the opening of the season, and will finally equal Sébastien Loeb on the Riviera. A real feat. 

“We suffered until the end, confided the Frenchman, moved, upon arrival. We had this acceleration problem which was really complicated to manage, because the car had a tendency to get stuck during braking phases. It was super tricky. I think it’s deserved, we fought hard. » Outstripped by his future teammate, Ott Tänak, during the very last specials, Sébastien Loeb finished just off the podium (4th). But the Frenchman's performance is notable.

2020, for history

Photo Bastien Roux / DPPI

If he is already the third oldest driver in the history of the WRC to have won a rally (Catalonia 2018), Sébastien Loeb still has the opportunity this weekend to improve his mark – without being able to beat the one by Waldegård Björn, winner at 47 years and 5 months at the 1990 Safari Rally. Better prepared than the previous edition and in a team he has been working with for a year now, the Alsatian could play spoilsport on the Monte-Carl '. “As we finished fourth last season, deep down I had set myself a goal of podium he thought before setting off. Or at least, I had the hope of being able to play a little more with my opponents. » 

But very quickly, the Hyundai driver found himself offside, relegated like last year to fifty seconds from the lead at the end of the first two special stages. The spectacular accident of his teammate Ott Tänak the next day pushed the veteran to preserve the points for his team, he who was at that time in fourth place overall. The duel between the two Sébastiens is no longer really on the agenda.

For his part, Sébastien Ogier discovers a new mount, the Yaris WRC version of Toyota – his fourth team since his debut in the category – with the aim of finding his way back to the world title, which Ott Tänak stole from him in 2019. The Gapençois can also surpass his illustrious friend in Monte-Carlo in the number of victories on this Rally (7 each). A start to the season with multiple (and envious) challenges. And as in the previous edition, Ogier is competing for the lead with Thierry Neuville, and a new guest in the person of Elfyn Evans.

Ultimately, neither Sébastien will make history that weekend. Sébastien Ogier will hand over his property to a vengeful Thierry Neuville – the first time that a Frenchman has not registered his name on the Monte-Carlo WRC winners list since Grönholm in 2006. Sébastien Loeb, for his part, will end the day on Sunday on the rims, the fault of a poor tire choice, and in sixth place for what constitutes “ the most frustrating race » of his career, according to him.

This year, and for the fifth time in their career, the Sébastiens will compete on the roads of Monte-Carlo, at the opening of a season that is so undecided in many respects. One thing is certain, the two multiple world champions could not miss the advent of a new generation of hybrid cars and surely the crowning of a new world champion (unless Ott Tänak returns to the top). And if there was still a need to convince, here are all the reasons to scrutinize this rally closely.

It starts this Thursday, from 9:30 a.m. for the shakedown.

#RallyMonteCarlo 2021 promises to be special 🤩#WRCHybrid | #WRC | #WRCWatchNow pic.twitter.com/fF5onXQhPC

- World Rally Championship (@OfficialWRC) January 12, 2022