Ogier once again demonstrated why he is called the King of Monte-Carlo. The French champion dominated the event from start to finish.
This victory marked Ogier’s 10th career win in Monte-Carlo. With this, he surpassed his compatriot Sebastien Loeb in the number of Monte-Carlo victories. Ogier has now won the WRC Rally Monte-Carlo nine times. Additionally, he celebrated one win on home soil when the rally was part of the IRC series.
“Obviously, the feeling is very good. It’s been an exhausting weekend,” Ogier sighed.
“I have the feeling that most of the time after Rally Monte Carlo, we say, ‘Oh, this one was very difficult. It was very tough.’ I don’t know if it’s just the nature of this rally, probably. But this weekend was far from relaxed. There were changing conditions every single stage and pressure on us up to the very last stage with the different tyre choice,” Ogier recapped.
“This morning, we didn’t really know how the conditions would evolve, and it was not certain what the end result would be. Very happy to start the season with a perfect result for the team and two maximum points,” Ogier continued.
After his victory, Ogier was visibly emotional. Exactly one year ago, he experienced a significant loss in his life, and now his thoughts returned to that moment.
“I think more than this number ten, at the end of the last stage, the first thing which came to my mind was definitely my uncle. We lost him exactly one year ago during the recce last year. And yeah, he was more or less responsible for me starting motorsport. We started my adventure in this world together,” Ogier reminisced.
Ogier was convinced that his late uncle was able to share in the joy of his 10th Monte-Carlo victory.
“And I’m sure he would be very proud—or he is very proud today. And like I said, this weekend, I definitely had some luck on my side, and my lucky star was there,” Ogier sent his heartfelt message to the skies above.
