Ogier gets New Zealand bonus

Citroen Junior Team driver Sebastien Ogier will contest next month’s Rally New Zealand - but his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen remains uncertain for the Auckland-based event.

Ogier’s 2010, Red Bull-backed programme was scheduled to include every event except New Zealand, but extra budget has been sourced to put the 26-year-old on the plane to the other side of the world. There remains a chance former Formula 1 World Champion Raikkonen will join him in New Zealand, but Citroen Junior Team manager Benoit Nogier said it’s more likely only one car will head south for the start of the fifth round of the World Rally Championship on May 6.

Nogier said: "Yes, it’s right, Sebastien [Ogier] will go to New Zealand, but we did not have the last answer for Kimi. We don’t think so, probably we will have only one car. I think it’s 80 per cent sure that Kimi won’t go. We took the decision for Sebastien to go to New Zealand after Mexico because of the budget. We did not plan to go before because of the budget, but now we have found some sponsors to go."

Nogier emphasised the decision to send the former Junior World Rally Champion was taken before last week’s Jordan Rally, quashing speculation in the service park that Citroen had funded Ogier’s trip as payback for the Frenchman dropping from second place to sixth in order to run ahead of Sebastien Loeb on the final day of the Dead Sea event.

This will be Ogier’s first trip to compete in New Zealand. In his 23 world rallies, he has only twice ventured south of the equator, once for Rally Argentina in 2009 and once for Rally Australia later that year.