WRC – Monte-Carlo, more than a victory for Ogier

Sébastien Ogier was off to a bad start Rally Monte-Carlo after making a bad choice of tires in the first stage causing him to lose almost 50 seconds on the lead of the race. But the reigning world champion did not give up and made a superb climb up the rankings to take the lead, managing to avoid the pitfalls despite the difficult conditions. The Frenchman won his first victory in the Monegasque event at world level after having already won five years earlier in the IRC Series with a Peugeot 207 S2000. “What a perfect start to the season! It's fantastic to win the Monte-Carlo Rally in such conditions, especially since the Monte has returned in WRC. This victory therefore exceeds that won in 2009 with Julien (Ingrassia, his co-driver), especially in view of the three stages contested with my return under heavy showers and the chaos that occurred at the Col de Turini with the snow. »

Volkswagen Motorsport is starting its new season in the best possible way. Along with Sébastien Ogier's victory comes Jari-Matti Latvala's success in the Power Stage ahead of the world champion. With the Finn's fifth place, the Wolfsburg brand leads the Manufacturers' Championship, four points ahead of Citroën Racing. Andreas Mikkelsen arrived in seventh place. “I’m very proud of the team. The drivers, co-drivers, engineers and mechanics did a sensational job. Sébastien Ogier's performance was worthy of a champion while Jari-Matti Latvala and Andreas Mikkelsen also did a magnificent job., adds Jost Capito, director of Volkswagen Motorsport. “The team always made wise choices with the tires even if they couldn’t always be perfect. But this is something typical of “Monte” which is always unpredictable and temperamental. It’s an extraordinary achievement to finish with all three Polo R WRCs in the points and win the “Monte” for the first time as a team. »

Videos of the Monte-Carlo Rally can be found on this link.

Discover the analysis of the Monte-Carlo Rally carried out by our special correspondents in issue 1944 of AUTOhebdo, available from tomorrow at 23 p.m. in digital version on all platforms, and from Wednesday on newsstands.