Sébastien Ogier: “We were solid”

What are your feelings after this coronation?

I'm pretty happy. It was a difficult weekend, notably with a very poor final stage. We're sorry about Elfyn. We had a lot of fun battling this season and I'm sure it will be the same next year.

The competition was very special. With this unfolding, what value do you place on this title?

We didn't often feel like we were playing in a championship. We started the year normally with three races and covid-19 arrived in mid-March after our victory in Mexico. From there, it was a big void for a long time. The solutions were slow to appear so that this could start again. I feel like we lost a lot of time this summer when the situation seemed more or less under control.

We then managed to do a few rallies, but the cancellations and schedule changes made us wonder if we were going to have a championship. It’s a title despite everything and I’m the first to say that I’m not going to place it at the top of those we acquired with Julien. We, however, did the job with the cards we had and we can be proud. I also find that in the current period, it is not the time to jump for joy over sporting results. We feel privileged and happy to be there, but we do not forget that there are things much more difficult than the rally and we put things into perspective.

How did you approach this strange competition?

We cannot say that there was a particular strategy to manage such an unusual event. We had to take the races one after the other and see what would happen. With Julien, we managed to do this quite well. Over these 7 rallies, we have always given everything. We end 2020 with 2 victories. It was only in Sweden where we didn’t fight up front. Arriving at Monza 14 points behind, we were far from sure that it was going to do it, because we did not have all the cards in hand.

True to our strategy, we didn't give up while putting pressure on Elfyn. It paid off in the end, but we didn't jump for joy when it happened because it meant the team lost the Manufacturers' title. It's paradoxical that we are 1 and 2 among the Pilots and that Toyota don't be champion, but it's the rules that are weird.

Did you have any doubts after the first qualifying sessions on Saturday morning when Evans was still a few seconds behind you?

No, it was you who had that impression. We knew it was far from over. We had the information that the afternoon was likely to get tough due to the weather, but honestly not that much! As I said before the start, it's perhaps not a bad thing that we had a difficult weekend, because it's in conditions like these that mistakes happen the most. We managed to be solid this weekend when we needed to be.

What did you think when you saw your teammate stopped on the side of the road?

We had received the message a few kilometers earlier, because the team is authorized to send us this type of information which concerns safety. Right away, I told myself that this was an opportunity. Given the conditions in which we were driving, I also immediately told myself that we had to finish the special without doing like him.

Elfyn Evans has been your closest opponent?

Honestly, he had a great competition. He has always been there and Monza was his first mistake. This is the first time in his career that he has been consistently at the forefront. This made for some interesting fights. If I had won this rally without winning the title, I think I would have come out of this championship with my head held high, because in terms of performance, he only beat us in Sweden. All the rest of the time, we were always ahead of him and it was Turkey's mechanical problems that cost us dearly. It would have been frustrating not to be champions, but it wouldn't have been undeserved for him either.

Your previous title, in 2018, was played during the last event and was not easy. This one was even harder to get. Is the competition getting closer?

If we look at our season, we have been solid. In any case, I am proud of what we accomplished, especially because it was our first year in this car. As I said, the only rally where in my eyes I was perhaps not so bloody was Sweden. I know why: the conditions were special and I didn't want to take all the risks with tires not suited to what we were facing. I've never been one to do that and I don't think this trend will reverse in the future, quite the contrary. This is the only meeting on which I did not give everything.

Maybe with the Power Stage in Sardinia*?

No, it was impossible to go any faster. Our car is fantastic, but these are compromises. In the images from the onboard camera, it is clear that we are at the limit all the time, the bottom hits everywhere and I have no regrets. We have always been in the fight for the podium, so for me it remains a very good season, certainly shorter than normal, but not necessarily easier. This title, whatever value people put on it, which ultimately doesn't matter to me, we didn't steal it.

You often say that statistics don't interest you, but 7 consecrations are still significant!

It's certain that when we started in 2006, we would have signed just to do WRC ! These are nice numbers to see, but perhaps I paid more attention to them at the start of my career. I looked at them and said to myself “I’m going to do this, I’m going to do that”, but today, it’s mainly the emotions we’re aiming for and the good times we share that are important to me. I can appreciate them more and tell myself that that’s what counts.

You also equal Juha Kankkunen with three titles with three different manufacturers…

The fact that we are always able to adapt quickly to new situations has always been one of our strengths during our career. Each time we have played in a team, we have immediately established ourselves, and the hardest part is ultimately being able to last.

You decided to leave Citroën at the end of 2019 to take on a challenge that was not a foregone conclusion…

By joining Toyota with Julien, we were aware that there was potential. They won the Drivers' Championship in 2019 and we hoped to be well supported. We were not disappointed. It took us a little time to figure out how best to work with them. It’s an interesting adventure.

Each time, we do not seek to revolutionize anything when we arrive in a team, but we try to share our experience which is also starting to be great by giving ideas on what has worked well in the past with others. I knew I had the cards to do well, but it was up to me to work hard to achieve it. I found it to be an interesting new challenge in our career and we were not afraid to take it on.

Here you are with 7 titles. If there is an 8th next year, would you consider trying to get a 9th to match Sébastien Loeb ?

No. It was supposed to stop this year, but I didn't want to do it after a year where I stayed at home for 6 months. I would like to end on something that is more sportingly interesting. However, I am not going to make the mistake that many have made of saying that I will never do a rally again, because we all see them at one point or another. I'm not at all ruling out the possibility of doing one again from time to time, but from the point of view of my schedule, I want to move on to something other than playing entire championships. Regardless of our performance in 2021, this will be my last full season.

* The Toyota crew lost 2nd place to Thierry Neuville for 1 "