Sébastien Ogier, winner of the Rally of Portugal: “I still have strong nerves”

How do you feel after this success? Is there a risk of being jaded?

It's still so good. (Laughs) We never get tired of it. I've been saying this for a few years, but we know we have to appreciate them even more, because we're nearing the end. We can't say what the future will bring, so we might as well savor it as much as possible.

Unlike some times, you had competed in a race a few weeks ago. Did that help you get into the groove straight away?

It was not the same surface, so it was not obvious at the beginning of rally. This is all the more true since our set-up was not optimal on the first day. The two combined made Friday difficult… but ultimately it was the whole weekend that was complicated.

Have you ever been able to tell yourself that it was won?

You always had to fight. Once again, we had perfect management of our event. It took attack, but we also knew how to turn our backs from time to time when the conditions were trickier.

Is it easy to “sacrifice” a special stage and give up time for it?

No ! It's always a challenge, but I'm happy to show that I still have strong nerves.

It's not necessarily important to you, but you follow the good news: 101^e podium, Legion of Honor, 60^e success…

It is true that this makes for a nice series of statistics. It's not my main motivation, but I'm not going to spit on it either.

Comments collected by L. Rocci

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