Sebastien
Ogier
answers
your
questions
(part one)

Steven Fraser, Newcastle, Australia: Who inspired you to follow your dream to be a professional sportsman? “For sure it was Sebastien Loeb. When I was young he was really dominating the championship, he was French and was a good example to follow. He started like me in the Rallye Jeunes selection organised by the French federation. I realised from him that it could be possible to make it because he is not coming from a rich family or something. It’s because he had talent and took a chance. It inspired me to do the same and in the end I reached the WRC.”

Luca Piana, Italy: Which world champion from the past would you most like to have a battle with? “That’s a good question. If possible I would like to be with them all in the same championship but that’s just a dream. But I would say for sure Carlos Sainz. I know him more now and I have a good relationship with him. It would be nice to be back in the 1990s to fight with him but I am sure he would be a very difficult guy to beat.”

Teemu, Finland: Can you tell us about your co-driver Julien? How and when did you two meet and how is he like as a person? “Julien is a nice co-driver, very methodical and doing actually perfectly his job otherwise he would not be with me. We start together when I won Rallye Jeunes he come to the team and asked to be co-driver with me. He had experience so it was good to start with somebody who knew the job. Immediately the relationship between us was good and has continued like that.”

Ismail Terzi, Turkey: When you go shopping, do you make the shopping trolley sideways? “To be honest I’m not going so often to the supermarket! But it happened to me for sure when I was young I was doing it with my mum and she was trying to catch me all the time.”

Rui Fonseca, Porto, Portugal: When you play the WRC videogame, do you always choose yourself as the driver? “Of course, I have to!”

Thierry, France: Do you consider the semi-retirement of Sebastien Loeb to be a setback for the WRC? “Not really. For sure it’s always a shame to lose the reference. It would be better for us for him to continue. But that’s how it is, it’s his choice and we have to respect it.”

Tomek, Poland: Sebastien, you’re a great driver but what kind of music do you like? What are your favourite bands? “I don’t have any favourite bands, I like all different kinds of music, also from the 1980s, including rock.”

Cyril Duffet, France: Will the Polo be fast enough to let you challenge for your first world title next season? “That’s the question. We are working really hard on this subject at the moment. We hope to be performing but, to be honest, it will be difficult in the first year to fight immediately for victory. As always I do my best for that and I am sure the team will do the same.”

Matias Delpidio, Rosario, Argentina: What was it like driving in the same team as Sebastien Loeb? Were there team orders and how much pressure were you under to deliver results? “To be honest it was a very nice experience to be team-mates with him. I was very young in the WRC and I learned a lot from him and the team. We had some moments like everybody know last year but we had a good relationship.”

Matt Chapman, Nottingham, United Kingdom: What is your relationship with Sebastien Loeb like at present? “It’s okay. I don’t see him away from the race but when I see him in the race we are talking together.”

Check out WRC.com soon when Sebastien Ogier answers more of your questions.