Ogier proud of WRC Monte display after “rollercoaster of emotions”

The Toyota driver challenged for a record-extending 10th Monte Carlo win before ultimately losing a gripping head-to-head to Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville by a margin of 16.1s. The second-place finish marked his 13th podium in 15 Monte Carlo event starts.

Ogier produced an inspired drive to win six stages, including a 700th career stage victory. However, after setting a fastest time on Friday’s stage five which he won by 11.2s, Ogier was close to tears.

At the end of the rally, he revealed he’d been dealing with loss of a close supporter who ignited his motorsport career in the days prior to the event.

“It’s been first of all, a nice battle with Thierry. Well done to him, he has been really fast this weekend,” said Ogier.

“For me it’s been a rollercoaster of emotions. I struggled a lot on Friday especially.

“It was hard to say goodbye on Monday to a person who was very important to me, who basically launched my career in motorsport and who bought me my first kart. There is never a good time for these things, but it was so sudden.”

Given the personal challenges he faced during one of the WRC’s toughest rallies, Ogier was proud of his display in the most challenging of circumstances.

“I tried my best and it wasn’t the easiest of weeks for me so altogether I think I really tried everything I could to manage my emotions and the job as best as I can,” he added.

“I’m happy now that it is over and I’m really exhausted, of course. Now it is time for me to spend time with my family and try to process all that.

“I think I can be proud. I never gave up the whole weekend. The start of the race was challenging for many reasons, the start position and my emotions, and we still managed to stay in the fight more or less up to the end of the rally.

“It is strong weekend and strong points for the team, and I think I can be happy than that.

“I seriously thought about whether to start this rally or not, so at the end I really did it as I have an engagement with my team and I need to stay professional, and you can see that it wasn’t easy. This one was a tough one to take.”