Rally-eMag September 2013 | Page 42

Neste Rally Finland / Who’s hot? 42/52 Who’s hot? Sebastien Ogier VW Polo R WRC Volkswagen Motorsport In Australia there was simply not one driver that could come anywhere near our HOT award. Ogier led the field almost from start to finish and was not rewarded enough for all his efforts. But not winning the championship in Oz will not be a big problem. He’ll sets things right in France we expect. In Austrlia the young Frenchman was perfectly cool. He knows he is one of the best and he knows he doesn’t have to be afraid of anybody. But his rare mistake in Germany proves that Ogier is only human. Even he can falter on some extra pressure. But In Australia he was totally at ease. He won almost all stages and as it was necessary for his championship chances he even won the Powerstage. So he deserved to be champion but then a strange twist of faith caused a puncture for Hirvonen and the Frenchman got stuck one point from his championship. But the Ogier we knew from his early Citroën days seems to have gone completely. He is smiling a lot and that seems to suit him well. In France there are two challenges for him. First of all to gain enough points to be the champion but secondly he will be in a battle with his biggest rival ever Sebastien Loeb. Jost Capito sees the merits of this and gives his top driver a free hand to fight this battle. “After Australia the situation in the championship is such that we can afford it,” says Capito. In a few weeks time we will know if the new Seb, as he doesn’t want to be called can finally beat the old Seb. It will be a tight battle, but Ogier in this form is capable of (almost) anything.