Rally New Zealand: three questions to Sébastien Ogier

How did you get back from Istanbul?

“I only had to wait for one day in Istanbul before I was able to get a plane to Lyon and return home. By contrast, Julien went all the way back to France by coach with some of the team. I’ve not got too much to complain about compared to some other people!”

New Zealand wasn’t on your programme at the start of the year. How did the decision to do this extra event come about?

“Our initial programme was for 12 rounds of the World Rally Championship. Then the team managed to get the budget together to fund the remaining event. I think our results since the start of the year certainly created extra motivation for everyone.”

You seem to have made a notable step forwards since last year. What has changed?

“It’s a massive help to have had one full season of the World Rally Championship already behind me in the Citroen C4 WRC. Rallying is a sport that requires a lot of experience if you want to fight at the front. All the different stages on all the different surfaces that we have covered so far in the C4 allow us to drive at a much quicker pace now. We’re maybe taking a few more risks, but we’re keeping calm about it. We still have a lot to learn, but our results show that we are on the right road.”