SÉBASTIEN OGIER
DRIVER PROFILE
CAREER SUMMARY
FRA
Here’s what makes him special:
• Determined, ruthless and hugely ambitious, Ogier took his second consecutive drivers’ title with eight rally wins in 2014
• He is the undoubted successor to Sébastien Loeb’s throne, but does not like to be compared to his former rival, with whom he endured a fractious partnership at Citroen
• Volkswagen's golden boy, he took a year out of top-flight rallying in 2012 to help develop its Polo R World Rally Car
The story so far
A versatile sportsman, Ogier was a ski instructor and professional boules player before he embarked on a rallying career at the age of 22.
Ogier’s path to success mirrored that of nine-time champion Sébastien Loeb: both made their mark in two-wheel-drive, 1600cc Citroëns before stepping up to the big league with the French manufacturer.
Ogier stormed to the FIA Junior World Rally Championship crown in 2008 and a six-round WRC programme with the Citroën Junior Team followed a year later. Despite a succession of accidents, Citroën chiefs stuck by their man and Ogier took victories in Portugal and Japan in 2010.
A place in the main Citroën team was Ogier’s reward for 2011, and he took the fight to team-mate Loeb by winning three rounds early on. However, the season turned sour in Germany where he was instructed not to challenge Loeb for the lead. Unwilling to accept a supporting role in the team, he signed to Volkswagen’s fledgling WRC squad in 2012, driving an S2000-spec Skoda in preparation for a World Rally Car programme the following year.
It was a move that paid off. At the conclusion of the 2013 season, Ogier was crowned as the new World Rally Champion after taking nine rally wins and smashing the team’s modest expectations at the same time.
The success story continued in 2014, when eight wins secured him a second title and made him only the eighth driver to lift the WRC title more than once.
• Determined, ruthless and hugely ambitious, Ogier took his second consecutive drivers’ title with eight rally wins in 2014
• He is the undoubted successor to Sébastien Loeb’s throne, but does not like to be compared to his former rival, with whom he endured a fractious partnership at Citroen
• Volkswagen's golden boy, he took a year out of top-flight rallying in 2012 to help develop its Polo R World Rally Car
The story so far
A versatile sportsman, Ogier was a ski instructor and professional boules player before he embarked on a rallying career at the age of 22.
Ogier’s path to success mirrored that of nine-time champion Sébastien Loeb: both made their mark in two-wheel-drive, 1600cc Citroëns before stepping up to the big league with the French manufacturer.
Ogier stormed to the FIA Junior World Rally Championship crown in 2008 and a six-round WRC programme with the Citroën Junior Team followed a year later. Despite a succession of accidents, Citroën chiefs stuck by their man and Ogier took victories in Portugal and Japan in 2010.
A place in the main Citroën team was Ogier’s reward for 2011, and he took the fight to team-mate Loeb by winning three rounds early on. However, the season turned sour in Germany where he was instructed not to challenge Loeb for the lead. Unwilling to accept a supporting role in the team, he signed to Volkswagen’s fledgling WRC squad in 2012, driving an S2000-spec Skoda in preparation for a World Rally Car programme the following year.
It was a move that paid off. At the conclusion of the 2013 season, Ogier was crowned as the new World Rally Champion after taking nine rally wins and smashing the team’s modest expectations at the same time.
The success story continued in 2014, when eight wins secured him a second title and made him only the eighth driver to lift the WRC title more than once.
No comments:
Post a Comment