Citroen Total Racing World Rally Team’s Sébastien Ogier admitted that he had to “attack very hard” to claim two championship points on the Power Stage of Rally Sweden.
Defending World Rally Champion Ogier retired from the snow event midway through Saturday after hitting a snowbank before restarting under the Super Rally rule and finished fourth on the rally ending Power Stage.
The Frenchman knew as first driver on the road, his chances of a strong result would be affected and after going off the road on stage six, his weekend effectively turned into a test session as he continued his transition to the C3 WRC for 2019.
Speaking after the event, he said: “Unfortunately, as we had expected, our position as first car out was very difficult to deal with this weekend, especially on the second runs, where the lines made by the historic rally were filled with water.”
“That cost us a lot of time and we ended up paying dearly for it because after we touched a snow bank we got stuck in an area with no spectators to help us. So we had to get the shovel out, but above all we already knew that in terms of a result, our weekend was effectively over.”
Photo Credit: Jaanus Ree/RedBull Content Pool.
He added: “From that point on, the rally turned into a full-scale test and we took away some positives from our performances, with some stage wins and globally good times. All the kilometres we covered were useful for fine-tuning our knowledge of the car and the experience will serve us in good stead for the future.”
“As for the rally, our only remaining objective after retiring was the Power Stage. Our chances of chasing points were fairly flimsy, as we went out in second position, but by attacking very hard we managed to grab two. It’s better than nothing!”
After Ott Tänak’s victory in Sweden, the Estonian now leads the championship ahead of Thierry Neuville with Ogier slipping to third.
The 2019 FIA World Rally Championship continues with Rally Mexico between March 7-10.
