Special feature
WRC
Ogier celebrates title
The celebration came early for Sebastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia in France!
Edited: Oct 4, 2013, 3:14 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Exuberant scenes greeted newly-crowned world champions Sebastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia as they returned to the Volkswagen Motorsport service park in Rallye de France - Alsace’s host city of Strasbourg tonight.
Team members wearing specially-prepared ‘World Champions’ T-shirts waved banners and sounded horns as Ogier steered his Polo R into its parking place. The noise reached a crescendo as the crew leapt out of the car and jumped onto the bonnet to celebrate in front of the waiting TV crews and photographers.
2017 champions Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia, Volkswagen Polo WRC, Volkswagen Motorsport
Photo by: Volkswagen Motorsport
Ogier and Ingrassia hugged motorsport director Jost Capito, who had earlier started the celebrations as Ogier crossed the finish line of the 4.55km Strasbourg street test where they were confirmed as champions.
“The way we have won this title is amazing,” said Ogier. “In a year we have gone from zero to world champions and it’s such a great story. It’s been a hard year with a lot of work, development, and effort from everyone. It’s Volkswagen’s first year in WRC and we have not finished the season yet, but already we are champions.”
Ogier knew before he tackled the test that the title was his. Thierry Neuville, the only man that could deny him, needed maximum bonus points from winning the Power Stage to keep the battle alive. However, he was slower than stage winner Dani Sordo and so Ogier, in the last pair to start the test, did so as world champion.
“It was a strange feeling to realise I was champion, but I still had to drive the stage. I was shaking a lot inside the car and I didn’t expect that. But I was happy because it meant that I had a lot of emotion, and sometimes I’m not emotional enough,” Ogier told wrc.com.
“The stage was less than 5km but it seemed longer because it was difficult to stay concentrated. There was a lot of joy at the finish.
2021 champions Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia, Volkswagen Polo WRC, Volkswagen Motorsport
Photo by: Volkswagen Motorsport
“I’m so proud of my team and so proud of what we’ve achieved together in our first year. It’s a team sport and you need everyone to perform to win. Julien has done a really good job in the car and the team has given us a perfect car,” he said.
With three days of competition ahead, there will be no opportunity for Ogier to celebrate tonight, and already his thoughts were turning towards trying to win his home rally.
“It’s strange to be world champion on Thursday night! We have been working many years for this but now we have to focus on the rally tomorrow, enjoy the weekend and perform well. Our next goal is to bring good points to the team and ensure we get another title to celebrate – the manufacturers’ crown,” he added.
FIA WRC
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Volkswagen's Ogier and Ingrassia crowned 2013 World Rally Champions
Next article Shrewd Neuville in front after day one in France
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Thierry Neuville
What does the future hold for Thierry Neuville and Hyundai in WRC?
WRC
WRC
Rally Italy
What does the future hold for Thierry Neuville and Hyundai in WRC?
Takamoto Katsuta will “never forget” rivals’ help after “biggest” career WRC crash
WRC
WRC
Rally del Paraguay
Takamoto Katsuta will “never forget” rivals’ help after “biggest” career WRC crash
More from
Volkswagen Motorsport
Electric VW breaks Heidfeld’s 20-year old Goodwood record
Hillclimb
Hillclimb
Electric VW breaks Heidfeld’s 20-year old Goodwood record
Volkswagen guns for outright Goodwood record with electric ID.R
Hillclimb
Hillclimb
Volkswagen guns for outright Goodwood record with electric ID.R
Volkswagen smashes Nordschleife electric record with I.D. R
General
General
Volkswagen smashes Nordschleife electric record with I.D. R
Latest news
Laurent Mekies extends contract as Red Bull's F1 team boss
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Singapore GP
1 h
Laurent Mekies extends contract as Red Bull's F1 team boss
Alex Palou to drive Indy NXT machinery in Chris Griffis Memorial Test at IMS
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 1 h
Alex Palou to drive Indy NXT machinery in Chris Griffis Memorial Test at IMS
The six drivers doing double duty in Portimao GTWCE and Barcelona WEC this weekend
WEC
WEC WEC
Barcelona
1 h
The six drivers doing double duty in Portimao GTWCE and Barcelona WEC this weekend
Into the unknown: What to expect from WEC's Barcelona debut
WEC
WEC WEC
Barcelona
3 h
Into the unknown: What to expect from WEC's Barcelona debut
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe