Sebastien Ogier

Even without the shared forename, the parallels between Sebastiens Ogier and Loeb are striking. Both began their careers in the French Rallye Jeunes contest before competing in a French one-make rally series. Both arrived in the WRC blazing the colours of the French motorsport Federation (the FFSA), and made their marks in two-wheel drive 1600cc Citroens before stepping up to the big league with the French manufacturer.

Ogier still has some way to go before he emulates Loeb’s vast array of achievements. But he made a very promising start by winning the Junior world title in 2008 and taking a brace of outright WRC wins in 2010, which earned him a seat alongside Loeb in the main factory Citroen team in 2011.

Ogier arrived on the world stage in Mexico in 2008 as a relative unknown outside his native France. He took a debut win in the Junior World Rally Championship division and followed that up with a second triumph in Jordan. Although there were a few mid-season niggles, he ended the year as champion and was rewarded with a drive a in a Citroen C4 WRC on Rally GB.

Making full use of the opportunity, Ogier led in tricky conditions only for a gearbox fault to drop him back to an eventual 26th overall.

A six-round WRC programme with the Citroen Junior Team followed for 2009 but it was plagued by a spate of accidents. Citroen chiefs, however, stuck by their man and extended his deal until the end of the season and Ogier repaid that faith by scoring his first podium on round six in Greece and followed that with a string of top five performances.

Ogier remained as part of the Citroen Junior Team line-up in 2010 where he was joined by ex-Formula One driver Kimi Raikkonen. While Raikkonen grabbed the headlines, Ogier quickly settled into his stride. After coming close to winning in Jordan and New Zealand, Ogier secured his maiden victory in impressive style in Portugal before scoring his second win in Japan.

That success in Portugal prompted an attempt by Ford to prise Ogier away from Citroen but the move was rebuffed and Ogier signed a long-term deal with the French manufacturer instead.

His form on gravel earned him promotion to the main Citroen team for the end-of-season loose-surface events. While a disappointing run-in meant he slipped from second to fourth in the final table, Ogier emerged as one of the stars of the season and a potential contender for the 2011 title. In fact, he finished 2011 in third place, which set him up nicely for 2012.

2012 turned out to be a disappointment, but there is a fresh start for 2013. Ogier will be part of the youth-orientated driver line-up (all three Polo R WRC drivers are under 30) and has high hopes of taking his career to the next level - although it may be 2014 before the new VW is fully competitive.