At the same time, Ogier drew level with his compatriot Sébastien Loeb in the number of championships, with Loeb having celebrated nine titles between 2004 and 2012 with Citroën. Ogier has in recent years competed in selected rallies, although this season and last the anticipated programme expanded because a title opportunity opened up.
“It feels amazing and I have every reason to be happy, but I didn’t have any fixation about this,” Ogier remarked.
Ogier did not admit to setting out to chase, gritting his teeth, a historic tenth world title either. The French star said in Saudi Arabia that he intends to contest ten rallies next year out of the 14 possible.
“I already announced on the podium that I will drive ten rallies next year. In that respect, I wanted to put an end to all the speculation about when I will be competing and when I won’t,” Ogier said.
“Next year I won’t be competing when my son has school holidays. You can check when the holiday periods are in Germany.”
The ninth title of his career did not come easily. Because Ogier had skipped three rallies, he was forced to perform at an exceptionally high level in every rally he entered. The French ace claimed six victories during the season and finished on the podium ten times.
“All of us who were fighting for the championship agreed before the rally that this kind of event is not the best place to settle the title. There were so many factors here that you can’t influence yourself. In the end, though, I tried to manage the balance between taking risks and maintaining a safe driving rhythm as well as possible. In that we succeeded too,” Ogier summarised.
“Everything was ultimately decided on the Power Stage, which was also a very rough section. Stress levels were maxed out until the very end. I’m happy that we were able to deliver under pressure.”
Ogier finally clinched the world title by a margin of four points ahead of his team-mate Elfyn Evans. Ogier finished third in the season finale, was fastest on the Super Saturday and second on the Power Stage. Evans, for his part, ended the rally sixth, but was fastest on the Power Stage and second best in the Super Saturday results.
