Q&A with Sébastien Ogier - A bit of a strange feeling

Q: Sébastien, so close but yet so far! The title was within your grasp until the final stage dramas. You have still taken the win but not the Championship title - disappointed?

To be honest, it was a bit of a strange feeling at the end of the last stage when we heard on the radio: “Congrats guys, you won the rally… but you have to wait for the Championship.” Then we said: “Oh ****.” We knew before the start that this could happen, even if we score maximum and win the Power Stage, we knew that Thierry could finish second and do that. In this case we would not be champion. But regarding that, all the weekend we were the virtual champion – at the last minute it was a frustration.

Q: It must have been very frustrating…

Of course I was a little bit frustrated. It was a special day for me. I was relaxed for quiet long, but on the last loop I was more nervous and thinking more about things. I just wanted to reset my brain and do my job for this afternoon. I had such a good feeling all weekend, my Polo was perfect and we won almost all the stages.

Q: Did you have any moments?

Honestly, it’s been really perfect, no real moments. It was okay. In this kind of rally when you start well with good qualification, then you have a good starting order. It looks easy when you see we are winning all the stages, but this is because we did a good job with Julien and all of the team. Okay, this is a small frustration, because we cannot write that we are world champions, but it’s almost there – and we are doing a great job for the Manufacturers [Championship] and I am very happy for that. Volkswagen deserves it and it’s my objective [to win Manufacturers’] as well.

Q: You are just one point shy of the title now and the Championship moves to France. How much are you looking forward to your home event and of course the battle with Sébastien Loeb?

It’s quite easy – we go for the victory in France, nothing other than that.

Q: Jost says you are free to fight in France…

I’m happy with that, yeah, I expected that… Of course I am happy with that. It’s frustrating for me, but quite soon I will look for the next target and that’s France rally. The competition will be interesting with Dani [Sordo] and Thierry – they are both quick, and, of course, Seb [Loeb] will be coming back and we know he will be on the pace.