Sébastien Ogier: “The potential is there and it’s a shame that it is not better exploited”

After the asphalt of Croatia, here you are on earth. Has it been a while since you last set foot on this surface?

My last race on gravel was at the Acropolis 2023 so this test day is very important. I had to get my bearings after 6 months without driving the Yaris. Quite a few things have changed on the car and there are set-ups to readjust so that it suits me as best as possible. 

A few days after your victory in Croatia, what do you think made the difference?

There was a very intense battle lasting three days. Thierry Neuville, Elfyn Evans and myself, with Vincent (Landais, Editor's note) my co-driver, we attacked very hard throughout the event. We've all made mistakes, but I think mine were smaller than theirs. They cost them a lot more and that worked in our favor. To keep our chances, we also didn't give up, as always. We tried to maintain the pressure as long as possible by staying in contact. We weren't very far behind, at 10'' or 11'' which is not much in terms of WRC and in the end it paid off for us. This is further proof that we must always believe in it.

Did not having flown for 3 months cost you time at the start of rally ?

Not really. I had a good day of testing. I admit that when I got back into the Yaris during these tests, it was necessary, because I was clearly not in the rhythm on the first run. I clearly saw that I had to regain my feelings and my bearings a little, but in the race I immediately had an excellent feeling and the car was very good. We were quickly able to progress at an interesting pace, but in Croatia we knew that on the first day the position on the road would be a problem for us and it actually cost us a little time.

During the last special on Friday, you gained 9” from your rivals. What allowed you to make such a difference?

This was perhaps one of the SS of the day where the drivers in front had the most pollution because of the last cars passing at 1^er round. They probably didn't have ideal tracks. It was perhaps the only time of the day where starting behind worked to our advantage. Without attacking more than in the others, it succeeded for us. For me, the explanation also comes from the fact that there were 10 km again. They were almost the only ones in the rally while everyone else was very well known. It's on the new sections that you can allow yourself to push harder and make the difference because your rivals don't dare as much for the first time.

While you've all known it for years, this Sunday special offered an incredible storyline, right?

It's not for nothing if on Saturday evening I said that nothing was finished before the final time. That's why we wanted to continue to put pressure on. I knew that this section (SS18/20) was clearly the most complicated of the rally. It's narrow, with a lot of pollution, ropes... It's very tricky. With the current points scale which pushes everyone to attack on Sunday to register, I thought that anything would be possible. However, it was difficult to imagine that so much would happen. 4 of the first 5 competitors (Neuville, Evans, Thank you et Fourmaux) of the classification still made mistakes in this section.

What made the difference? Your experience ?

This actually counts in rallying. This is not new. I still believe that the drivers with whom I compete today do not lack it either. I followed my approach which has always been the same and which consists of trusting my feelings. I don't attack more than I think is reasonable and that has often paid off in my career. This was again the case this weekend, although I recognize that we also had success with us because we made passages on the shoulders of the road which could have cost us dearly.

You spoke about the points system, (he cuts)

As is often the case, I said out loud what everyone is thinking quietly. However, there are more and more people who dare to say it. It must be admitted that it is obvious that there are things that are really wrong. This makes three rallies out of 4 where the points have no consistency and where the winners do not benefit from having won. Everyone scores the same points and it's very damaging. Nobody understands anything. This is regrettable for the 2024 championship and we must hope that this will only concern this season and that a logical solution will be found.

What would you suggest?

I see the objective which was to improve Sunday. It was a good idea. It must be preserved, but not in this way. You either have to change the distribution or keep the points from the past and add a few for the last day to force everyone to keep rolling. Today, the distribution is wrong. The benefit of a victory is no longer there and that is not normal.

In June, the World Council is expected to unveil the direction the WRC will take. What do you think should be done?

Points are one of the topics, but there are others... that I don't want to go into, because it's a never-ending debate. The sport needs changes to revitalize the discipline. The potential is there. There are still top drivers who fight at the front with incredible intensity and it's a shame that this is not better exploited.