Sébastien Ogier: “We will be more efficient on the tarmac”

Previously favorite playground of the different creations of Citroën, Xsara, C3 or DS3, the asphalt did not entirely favor the French car this year, Rally Monte-Carlo put aside.

Si Sébastien Ogier had finished 2nd in Corsica, the German event had been complicated for the French clan. Management had also admitted that progress was necessary on this area. And the world champion appears convinced of the potential of his mount before approaching the Catalan meeting next week, which will offer mixed dirt-asphalt terrain.

“I am confident that we will be more efficient on the tarmac, the sensations in testing were much better than in recent times, but only the clock and adversity will allow us to check if the step forward taken is significant enough. » Ogier specifies.

“We focused our tests on asphalt, and we made significant progress there by combining our efforts on differentials, geometry and damping,” explains Pierre Budar, boss of Citroën Racing.

For the land, if we can still do better, we have recently demonstrated that we are making progress on this surface, so we have made sure to capitalize on this solid base and further optimize it in our preparation work for the workshop. . »

A mixed terrain that had smiled on Citroën and Sébastien Loeb in 2018, and Kris Meeke in 2017. But it is Sébastien Ogier's fight for the world title that will attract all the attention at Citroën.

“I love this rally and I approach it with the firm intention of scoring big points, says Ogier. We have no other choice than to take units back from Ott to continue to hope.

With the influence of the position on the track, the first day on gravel necessarily complicates our task but I am not going to ask myself any more questions than usual. »