Ogier ultimately defeated his team-mate Elfyn Evans by four points and celebrated his ninth World Rally Championship title. The French star entered the year as a part-time driver and skipped three events, but an impressive run of six victories and ten podiums delivered the crown.
Ogier, who hails from the village of Forest-Saint-Julien near the town of Gap at the foot of the Alps, was even moved as he matched the achievements of his compatriot. Ogier entered the WRC in the 2008 season and immediately won the junior title. At that time, however, Loeb’s era was in full swing, lasting until 2012, when Loeb ended his full-time participation in the WRC.
“Of course I´m super happy. Super proud to join Seb and Daniel (Elena) on the top of the WRC ranking. When I started back in 2008, of course, it was never a target to try to achieve that,” Ogier said.
“Back then they were not yet nine, but somehow they achieved this nine and I think many people, probably me included, were thinking, okay, these kind of numbers probably will never be matched or it will take a while. I am of course brought to join them.”
Ogier won his first eight titles with Julien Ingrassia. Now came the first shared crown with Vincent Landais, who has been Ogier’s trusted co-driver since the end of 2022.
“I´m also super happy and proud to welcome a new member in the World Champion Club, because Vincent has been doing a fantastic job on my side since three years now. I felt before the event more pressure to achieve it for him than for me somehow. I really wanted it,” Ogier told.
“I felt how important it was for him. It’s like a life achievement when you’ve been working so many years to do that. It’s great to share that together.”
