Sébastien Ogier, winner in Catalonia: “We are not too rusty yet”

What is your feeling at the end of this victorious weekend?
I am of course happy. It was a rally parfait durant lequel la voiture a été excellente à piloter. C’est une belle satisfaction de décrocher le titre Constructeurs avec Toyota qui a réalisé un superbe travail tout au long de l’année. Nous l’avons fait avec la manière avec ce double podium. C’est comme cela que j’aime faire les choses.

Rally victory and the Power Stage win for Seb and Ben – a perfect way to celebrate the manufacturers' title! 🙌🤩#ToyotaGAZOORacing #GRYaris #WRC #RallyRACC pic.twitter.com/pC1iVoEm7B

- TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT (@TGR_WRC) October 23, 2022

This is your 55th victory. Considering the season you are playing, is it different from previous ones?
I'm not going to say that it is identical, that would be trivializing the thing, but I'm not going to classify it differently from any other either. It's a great victory at the end of a weekend where we had to attack most of the time because the gaps are small and the competition is there. It is not so often that it is possible to achieve success after such domination. I'm also happy for Ben (Benjamin Veillas, his co-driver. Editor's note) who finally gets his first trophy in WRC after losing that of Monte-Carlo, which had been difficult for him to accept.

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The last one was at Monza in November 2021…
It’s true that you journalists like to keep the statistics up to date (laughs). We mustn't forget that this is only my 5th race this season, so I haven't had many opportunities. Overall, I think that this year we displayed a good level of performance. In Monte-Carlo, victory was there and there is no point in going over what happened. In Portugal, we didn't set off at full speed, but that's not really my style either and we retired with a puncture when we were 5″ from the lead.

In Kenya, we were leaders and had a puncture, then there was a good 2nd place in New Zealand. Success has not always been on our side, and I find that we have nothing to be ashamed of. We're not too rusty yet and I really love what I do. I am lucky enough to be able to compete in a few races and I fully appreciate these moments.

👊 Winners 57 #RallyRACC 😬#WRC pic.twitter.com/NusGbU4RUl

— RallyRACC (@RallyRACC) October 23, 2022

Is there any particular satisfaction in beating Kalle Rovanperä, the new world champion?
He deserves his title. I'm sure it would have been a very tough battle against him if I had done the whole season. He had “the luck of the champion” sometimes, because everything worked out for him this season. This is often how it works. Even if I believe that I would still have the level to make life difficult for him, that is no longer what motivates me today. I enjoy coming punctually to have fun and help the team.