The French paper Le Figaro has published an open heart interview with Sebastien Ogier. In the interview, Ogier stated: “With Ford M-Sport, we struggled with the smallest team on the board in terms of resources, and a less efficient car than our rivals. We worked like the others, but with less means. "Over the course of the season, the competition brought changes, gained in performance and we could not keep up. Despite everything, we put everyone on the line.
"On the human side, it was also an exceptional adventure, with Malcolm Wilson, great boss of a family team.”
Ogier said he felt in France there was a lack of recognition among the general public. "We had an exceptional time with 15 consecutive titles won by French drivers (Loeb and himself), and I sometimes feel that there is a tendency to trivialise that. "It's a shame because such French domination is rare in the world of sport.”   Regarding the motivation for a return to Citroen, he said: "I found there is a real motivation with the new management and (team director) Pierre Budar, which was not the case with his predecessor Yves Matton ... There is real potential with the car." Regarding the threat Sebastien Loeb might return to the WRC part time, he added:
“The rules of the WRC are made in such a way that the 'guests' have a great advantage thanks to a late starting position. The fact that we give so many advantages to the guest pilots is really damaging.”
As far as the status of the sport, he said: “The discipline must evolve. It would be necessary to compact the current format of the tests. "Three days is too long to successfully maintain public attention.” And about his future: "Engaging for a year with Citroën was too little. Two years is the minimum to do things well. This will be my last contract," he said.

More rally news:

https://rallysportmag.com/wilson-talks-r2-a-new-r5-fiesta-and-sebastien-loeb/

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