Sébastien Ogier and Vincent Landais at the start of the Rally Finland

Sébastien Ogier is a bit of a secretive fellow. While he was answering questions in English about his activities during his vacation after the Acropolis, the latter turned to declare in French and with a smile: " My vacation won't be that long...I'll be in Finland! Can you keep it a secret for a few days? » He then resumed the thread of his interview without ever mentioning that his plans had changed since what he had announced in the preamble to the rally.

 

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Immediately after the shakedown, the Frenchman revealed that he had nothing on his schedule before a trip to Chile (September 11-14). At that point, the 41-year-old driver seemed both convinced and convincing. It's not impossible that the decision was made during the Greek event based on the results observed.

This will be the 15th^e participation of the Frenchman in this legendary round of the championship, his first engagement dates back to 2008 with a Citroën C2-R2 (35^e). Considering the member's track record of the Toyota Gazoo Racing, it's surprising to note that he only has two wins at Jyväskylä, which is a testament to the difficulty of this rally. His last one was 12 months ago, but Seb continues to say that he should never have achieved it and should have returned to Kalle Rovanperä (the Finn went off the road before the Power Stage after hitting a rock, editor's note).

For his 198^e departure in WRC, the Haut-Alpin will try to extend the superb series he began by winning the Monte-Carlo for the 10^e times in January. In their 5 appearances in 2025, Sébastien and Vincent have so far ranked 1^ers or 2^esIf he scores well in Finland, will Ogier postpone his holiday to race the Paraguay Rally (August 28-31) and Chile? Will Kalle Rovanperä's struggles with Hankook tyres prompt Toyota to ask Ogier to compete more often?

Absent in Sweden and Safari, the Frenchman is still 2nd^e of the championship, just 9 points behind Elfyn Evans. He will miss Estonia and should therefore see his situation deteriorate a little, but in theory there will be enough rounds left to come and fight for a title. Sébastien has already stated that he is not interested, but changes of plan can still occur...

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