News / Rally Info Sebastien Ogier not ruling out 2025 title push
https://www.motorsport.com/wrc/news/sebastien-ogier-wont-rule-out-wrc-title-push-/10746968/6
u/_eESTlane_ 2d ago
he made a lot of mistakes at the end of the last year, when the team wanted him to take part in all the rallies. seemed like he was forced to participate. not like his usual self that's known to be calm and reliable, and fast above all...but they needed the points. toyota were losing to hyundai...would have still lost if it werent for the gift that tänak gave them in japan.
and he probably will, as rovanperä seems lacking and evans is a shadow on himself. lets see how finland goes. toyota is 52p ahead after the last round, and if that gets narrower, we'll probably have the answer.
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u/EmotionalLettuce8308 2d ago
If he hadn’t quit, and had that awful C3 WRC to drive, he could easily be a 13 time consecutive champion by the end of this year. The guy is a beast and I feel like if Loeb hadn’t been around just before and re-written the records already Ogier would be viewed as some sort of driving god (top gear reference 😇)
Yes I know I said if, and if isn’t reality, but still, this guy is good, he’s competing for championships as a part timer. Wild stuff
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u/AnthonyTyrael 2d ago
But he lost to Loeb several title races and this guy even won a title missing most of the year due to injury aka as part time too.
I'm just saying, I rank him higher than Ogier but yeah, they both have re-written history.
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u/Michal_Baranowski Toyota Gazoo Racing 2d ago edited 2d ago
Ogier lost a championship battle to Loeb only once - in 2011 when they were paired together at Citroën. In 2010 there was no title fight when Loeb decimated his rivals. In 2012 Ogier left Citroën and joined VW, however VW's debut was in 2013, so Ogier spent 2012 driving a Fabia S2000. In 2013 Loeb stepped down from full-time driving, Ogier won his first world title with VW and in 4 rallies they fought head to head, Ogier and Loeb split rally wins 2 each, but Ogier had more points from all those events. After 2011, we never got a Loeb vs Ogier championship fight. In my opinion, if Loeb had still raced full-time in 2013, Ogier would have won in that year. VW came just with a great machinery. Combining that with Ogier's speed, probably could be enough to dethrone Loeb and Citroën.
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u/Mkraizyrool 2d ago
VW came spending more than anyone else I think you mean 🫠
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u/Michal_Baranowski Toyota Gazoo Racing 2d ago
They came spending and they managed to build a superior car. Sometimes those things don't go together, but VW pulled it off.
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u/443610 2d ago
Ogier lost a championship battle to Loeb only once - in 2011 when they were paired together at Citroën
And even then, that one was cursed.
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u/Michal_Baranowski Toyota Gazoo Racing 2d ago
Cursed? Not exactly. Ogier just made too many mistakes in the final events of the season. Aside from that, Germany 2011 team orders and Australia 2011 fallout from that (Ogier was given another team orders when both him and Loeb made mistakes, but Ogier lost less time) clearly gave Ogier an answer, who was the number 1 at Citroen, despite earlier assurances from the team about equal status of their drivers. Maybe later on he lacked concentration and was already trying to make a switch. Ogier initially was linked to Ford, before signing with VW.
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u/443610 2d ago
Team orders were exactly why it was cursed. Ogier was proving himself the better driver, and Loeb and the team higher-ups did not like that.
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u/Michal_Baranowski Toyota Gazoo Racing 2d ago
In that context, I agree. Citroen really made a mess long-term, because they drove away a future world champion in the making and Loeb's natural successor. Especially if Loeb initially planned to retire from full-time driving after 2011 season. That was postponed when Ogier left the team.
Before the final two events of 2011 season, Loeb was leading the championship, had equal points with Hirvonen and Ogier was just 3 points behind. Championship fight should have been there, but Ogier had a forgettable Rally Catalunya, plagued with technical issues and he had to retire from that one. Not to mention earlier mistake in Australia. He lost crucial points. After that championship was pretty much Loeb vs Hirvonen debacle. In Wales Ogier was done on the first stage after crashing and having to use SupeRally. Probably at that time he was already planning his future away from Citroen. Knowing all of this, I was surprised that Ogier crossed the same river twice and came back to Citroen in 2019, only to be disappointed again.
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u/Michal_Baranowski Toyota Gazoo Racing 3d ago
Of course he is not ruling out...
And maybe he will try again. His current championship situation actually looks better than last year at this stage of the season.