Sebastien Ogier was in relaxed mood ahead of this weekend’s Rally Sardinia, as he faced another weekend of fighting back after a Friday morning duty of road cleaning.
Being a seven times world champion, leading the field out on the first morning of a WRC event is no surprise to the Frenchman and something he has learnt to adapt to across his career.
Instead of getting frustrated, Ogier now takes it in his stride – something he says comes with maturity as he nears the end of his career.
“I think that comes with the maturity,” Ogier said. “Now I’m definitely closer to the end of my career than to the start, which means I just leave it like it is.
“Of course, this sport is important to me – it’s always going to be important to me. But it’s not the main thing in my life. And that’s why I can close this topic and step away.”
Ogier had to lead the way on the previous round in Portugal and despite a troublesome event, was still able to come away with a podium place and the championship lead. But he knows how to win a championship, it is points at the end of each event that count, rather than a string of stage wins and retirement.
He said, “I’m sure that Sardinia will be another demanding rally for us. But, honestly, I am happy to be leading the championship. I always try to take as many points as I can, and this will be the aim in Sardinia too.
“The result in Portugal was positive, even though I was not so satisfied with our pace. But it was the first time driving with the new tyres on gravel, and hopefully as we gain a bit more understanding with them we can see how to extract some more performance already in this next event.”
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