Sébastien Loeb: “The number 1 is Ogier”

Sébastien Loeb did not appreciate Citroën's strategy, which favored his teammate by making him slow down in the last special of the 2nd stage. The Alsatian thus found himself in the position of opener for the last day.

Published on 19/06/2011 à 11:04

⁰ View comments)

Although Olivier Quesnel persists in asserting that the relations between Sébastien Loeb et Sébastien Ogier are healthy, it seems that there is still a certain tension within the French team. During the last special of the second stage of the Rally from the Acropolis, Citroën indicated to Sébastien Ogier the benchmark time to achieve in order to leave first place to his teammate.

Sébastien Loeb did not appreciate this maneuver and made it known. “The team did not have Ogier's intermediate times, so when in doubt, they told him the time to achieve in order to get behind me in the general standings”, comments the Alsatian in L’Equipe. “Is this a great team strategy? It makes me laugh a little. The team preferred to help Ogier win this rally rather than help me win the championship. This is good information for the future. Now we know who number 1 is: it’s Ogier! »

For his part, Sébastien Ogier denied being favored by Citroën before the start of the special. “I don’t see why there would be instructions”, declared the Frenchman before the start of SS13. “Besides, the last time there was one (Rally Mexico), we know what Loeb did with it. »

Discover in your AUTOhebdo magazine, on newsstands from Wednesday, the complete analysis of the Acropolis Rally by our special correspondents in Greece.