Six-times FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) winner Sebastien Ogier answered questions ahead of this week’s 2020 FIA WRC season-opener the Rallye Monte-Carlo. Frenchman Ogier is tackling the championship with his third different manufacturer and is aiming bring his new employers, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT, silverware this weekend.
Q: Toyota has a rich WRC history with iconic cars and drivers, so what is it like to be part of that story?
Sebastien Ogier (SO): It’s definitely something special to be competing for Toyota with what they have achieved in the past and, of course, Juha [Kankkunen, former WRC champion]. Toyota is such an iconic brand and we definitely hope to write some history together. On top of that, it’s even more special for me personally because when I first started following rally I was rooting for Tommi [team principal, Mäkinen] so it’s actually a dream come true to be able to work with him now.
Q: What are your first impressions of the Yaris WRC?
SO: The car feels really good. We just had our last test before the season starts and I have a good feeling heading into the first event. Obviously we don’t know where we are compared to the other teams before the first couple of stages at Rallye Monte-Carlo, but I’m confident.
Q: It has been a while since you started the year without the championship, so how have you prepared mentally for 2020?
SO: To be honest, I’ve been preparing in the same way as before. Nothing has changed really, but we will obviously fight hard to win the championship back.
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Q: Have you and Julien (navigator Ingrassia) changed your approach for this season?
SO: As I say, nothing has changed for us. We are still the same as before and, if anything, the fact that we didn’t win last year has just given us even more hunger to succeed.
Q: What is it like being reunited with Elfyn Evans as a team-mate?
SO: I know Elfyn from my time at M-Sport and I’m very happy to have him in the team. He is a really good driver and can give a lot of feedback to the team about the car and therefore push the development as well.
Rallye Monte-Carlo gets underway on Thursday 23 January and concludes on Sunday 26 January.
