Breaking news
WRC Rally Monza
Ogier admits Evans crash took away from title enjoyment
Sebastien Ogier admits the misfortune of Toyota WRC teammate Elfyn Evans crashing out of last weekend's title-deciding Rally Monza made winning his seventh title harder to enjoy.
Edited: Dec 8, 2020, 7:07 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The Frenchman won the Italian event by 13.9 seconds from outgoing champion Ott Tanak to become only the second person in history (after Juha Kankkunen) to win the series with three different manufacturers.
Evans carried a 14-point buffer going to Monza, a late addition to this year's schedule, and appeared to be on course to end the UK's 19 year wait for a WRC champion.
But an off on the penultimate day, when the rear of his Yaris WRC broke free in snowy conditions, dashed those hopes and made his teammate's job more straightforward.
Reflecting on those events, Ogier admitted that Evans’ setback, which allowed Hyundai to retain the manufacturers' crown, put a dampener on his celebrations.
“With Julien [Ingrassia, co-driver], we’ve been quite happy with the performance we’ve had [this season],” said Ogier. “Of course, one of the bad turns was Rally Turkey for us where we lost the championship lead [with engine problems].
“After that, not knowing how many events were remaining, it was never going to be an easy challenge to come back.
"We just said that we came here with this 14-point disadvantage knowing that the only chance we had was to put maximum pressure on Elfyn and try to win the rally and force him to score big points if he wanted to remain on the lead.
“At the end, it turned out to work well for us so, of course, when that happened, I didn’t jump in the air because it was my teammate off the road and at this moment, we kind of lost as well the manufacturers’ title, so I couldn't really enjoy it.
“But personally, of course, it meant that if I finished the job I would be there [at the finish] talking about the seventh WRC title. So, I am of course very happy with that and very happy for the whole team.”
In the lead up to the season finale, Ogier had told Motorsport.com a seventh title would mean less to him than the previous six because COVID-19’s widespread effect had led to the creation of a “mini-championship”.
Having initially planned to retire after the 2020 season, the 36-year-old was convinced to extend his Toyota contract into next year amid the health crisis.
Read Also:
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 Monza WRC: Ogier wins to claim seventh title
Next article Sordo, Breen to share third Hyundai WRC entry in 2021
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Sébastien Ogier
Sebastien Ogier’s 2027 WRC future is undecided, but he won’t be at Monte Carlo
WRC
WRC
Rally Italy
Sebastien Ogier’s 2027 WRC future is undecided, but he won’t be at Monte Carlo
New WRC champion Elfyn Evans relieved after “surreal” Sardinia title showdown
WRC
WRC
Rally Italy
New WRC champion Elfyn Evans relieved after “surreal” Sardinia title showdown
More from
Toyota Gazoo Racing
Toyota to enter hydrogen-powered car in 2027 Dakar Rally
Dakar
Dakar
Toyota to enter hydrogen-powered car in 2027 Dakar Rally
Jari-Matti Latvala guides Toyota to Olympus Rally victory, Lia Block third
Other rally
Other rally
Jari-Matti Latvala guides Toyota to Olympus Rally victory, Lia Block third
Toyota brings Corolla back to rallying with all-new rally car
WRC
WRC
Toyota brings Corolla back to rallying with all-new rally car
Latest news
M-Sport’s 2027 WRC Fiesta Kit car breaks cover
WRC
WRC WRC 1 min
M-Sport’s 2027 WRC Fiesta Kit car breaks cover
‘I’m sideways all the time’ – How Alpine’s feral F1 car plagued Pierre Gasly in Singapore
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Singapore GP
1 h
‘I’m sideways all the time’ – How Alpine’s feral F1 car plagued Pierre Gasly in Singapore
Pedro Acosta proposes new idea for monitoring tyre pressure in MotoGP
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP 1 h
Pedro Acosta proposes new idea for monitoring tyre pressure in MotoGP
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