For seven years, Ogier shared the record for most wins with Markku Alén, who celebrated five victories in Portugal during his career. This weekend, Ogier finally secured his sixth win, surpassing Alén in the records.
“Finally, the story with Markku is over. But as I said, it’s wrong to say ‘finally’ because I have huge respect for him. It was an honour to share this record together for a couple of years,” Ogier said.
Ogier achieved his fifth win in Rally de Portugal in 2017 with Ford. Since then, he has been asked every year when he would secure the historic sixth victory.
“This means a lot because he’s a legend. I’ve heard this comparison for years now, and somehow it’s nice to have this behind me, even though I enjoyed sharing the record with him.”
Ogier also sent an emotional message to the Finnish legend.
“Markku, it was an honour to share the record with you. I hope you are in top shape again, and I hope to see you soon. It’s been a long time. Wishing you all the best from Portugal!”
Ogier reached another milestone in Portugal. The French star of Toyota has now achieved 60 event wins in the WRC.
“Another nice number: six wins here, 60 in total. Not bad for an older man, let’s say, just a little,” Ogier chuckled.
In the weekend’s event, Ogier made a decisive move on Saturday, creating a gap to Hyundai driver Ott Tänak when the Estonian suffered a puncture. Ogier managed to maintain his lead and ultimately secured his second consecutive win of the season by 7.9 seconds.
The French driver found no faults in his performance.
“I pushed when I needed to and managed to stay where I needed to be to have a shot at the win without taking unnecessary risks when the car didn’t feel 100% or conditions were tricky. It’s been a very strong weekend, and obviously, I’m very pleased with that,” Ogier summarised.
Ogier is competing in only part of the season this year, but he is now participating in several events in a row. He will be back in action in three weeks at Rally Italy Sardinia.
