Yves Matton of Citroen has said that it is his priority to sign Sebastien Ogier for the 2018 World Rally Championship.
Ogier drove for the Citroen Junior Team from 2009-2010 before joining Citroen Total WRT for the 2011 season. From 2012-2016, the Frenchman enjoyed a very successful stint at VW, securing four championship wins.
When VW announced its departure from the WRC, Ogier joined M-Sport for 2017 and has had a successful season, taking two wins at the Monte Carlo Rally and Rally de Portugal. With three rallies remaining, he currently leads the Drivers' Championship by 17 points from Thierry Neuville who is his nearest challenger.
Over the course of the last month, Ogier has been in talks with Citroen and Yves Matton has made sure that it is priority to get Ogier to rejoin his team: "We are making it our priority in our plans to make him join our team," he told Autosport.
"We are step-by-step right now and it's difficult to say what will be his final answer – for sure, we are not the only ones who are trying to convince him! At the moment there is not a major obstacle," he added.
"That's not to say there may not be an obstacle and it could be a major one, but at the moment we are going around the different points to find what are his expectations and our expectations and our targets."
When asked how confident he was that Ogier would join Citroen for 2018, he said: "It doesn't matter if it's 90% or 10%, if it's not 100%, it's not signed."
Ogier also has the option to remain with M-Sport for a second season, although he confirmed in August that he would only remain with the team if it found a major backer of if Ford returned to the WRC to give M-Sport works support. The Frenchman is aiming to have his future decided by the end of September as he tries to avoid the situation he was in last year following the departure of VW.
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