Sébastien Ogier passed very close

Say that Sébastien Ogier should not have been present in New Zealand! After having achieved very good performances at the start of the season, the Gapençais was able to benefit from a budget extension to represent the Citroën Junior Team on the other side of the Globe. The driver of the Citroën C4 WRC n°7 was close to thanking his team for this trip in the best possible way, having led the Rally from New Zealand until the penultimate special. Despite his second place in the final, the young Frenchman wants to see things on the bright side.

« We had a lot of fun driving. The car was perfect. We can still thank the whole team because we weren't supposed to be there this weekend. Olivier (Quesnel) and Citroën managed to find the budget for us. Ultimately, it was still a very good weekend for us. We had a lot of fun so it would have been a shame not to come. »

Furthermore, the Frenchman is reassured because, beyond a close victory, he proved that he was able to win and, therefore, to compete with the other drivers. “ We led a large part of the race, we set quite a few scratch times. For a few races, I had been saying that we were getting closer and closer to the best, but this weekend, it was getting closer and closer to the best! Because I think that after Seb (Loeb), we were the “fastest” this weekend. »

Even more reassured by his level of competitiveness, the Citroën Junior Team driver puts this result into perspective. “ This bodes well for the future, as I say after every end of the race at the moment. Compared to our experience, it's a great weekend, we would have signed up for such a race. »

But, after narrowly missing a deserved success, the Frenchman cannot hide his legitimate disappointment. “ Despite everything, I have to think about this last mistake three corners from the end because, without it, we had our first victory. It?s the rally, it?s never before the finish line. »

Very competitive since the start of the year, Sébastien Ogier is now able to regularly get on the podium. According to him, progress is constant and allows him to be optimistic. “ It's been a few races that we've been feeling good, that we're feeling confident, that we're getting faster and faster, so I can't say that I've surprised myself. But today, we had an attack that we have perhaps never had in a race. Since mid-last season, race after race, we have made a lot of progress. This is the most important thing and this is what I will remember from this weekend. »