Ogier, who has won the World Rally Championship eight times, visited the event but was not seen behind the wheel of a race car this time. Instead, Ogier enjoyed the atmosphere from the co-driver’s seat in Toyota’s hydrogen-powered car, driven by British comedian Rowan Atkinson.
Ogier suffered a minor injury a couple of weeks ago when he was involved in a head-on collision with a civilian car during reconnaissance for the Rally Poland. As a result, he had to withdraw from the competition entirely.
During the Festival of Speed live broadcast, Ogier explained that he is avoiding unnecessary driving due to his neck injury. However, he confirmed that he will be competing in the Rally Latvia next week as planned.
When asked about his future plans, Ogier said: “I have to be careful what I say now because Jari-Matti will be angry if I say I’m going to take his seat in the future,” jokingly referring to Toyota team principal Jari-Matti Latvala.
Ogier has been participating in selected rallies for Toyota in recent years, a setup that has suited him well.
“I still enjoy being in a racing seat a lot. I believe that as long as I’m performing well, I should definitely enjoy it.”
“I tend not to make really long-term plans, so I don’t really project where I’m going to be in a couple of years. Most probably, or at least the target, will be to be there as a racing driver for a couple more years, not necessarily in rally but maybe in DTM. I live in Germany, and my wife hosts this series, so I’ve been around many times. That could be something I’d like to do in the future, just to push myself into new challenges.”
Ogier’s former competitor and teammate Latvala has been Toyota’s team principal for several years. The French star did not rule out the possibility of having a role in team management at some point.
“It’s also not impossible that at some point I’ll end up trying to be more involved in the management part of the sport. There is time for everything in life, and I think there must also be some interesting challenges in bringing a team to the top and leading a whole team to the top. So, why not?”
For now, Ogier will continue driving the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 car. This season, he has been in impressive form, winning two of the four rallies he has entered and finishing second in the other two.
Theoretically, Ogier is still in the running for this season’s championship. He is fourth in the standings, 44 points behind the leader, Hyundai driver Thierry Neuville, with six rounds remaining.
“If at some point I’m getting closer, I will do my best to fight for it (the title) even if it’s not the target. I will never plan to come back into full-season racing, but I always say if they wait for me and want to fight for the title in the last races, I’m hoping for it,” Ogier emphasised.
