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Rally Monte-Carlo - Finish
Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia get off to a flying M-Sport start!
For the fourth year in a row, Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia have begun their season with a Monte-Carlo victory, winning their first competition as part of the M-Sport World Rally Team.
Driving the Ford Fiesta WRC n°1, the French crew were for a long time second in the overall placings after getting stuck in a ditch for about 40 seconds soon after the start. As the rally was about to head back to Monaco on Saturday afternoon, a mistake from leader Thierry Neuville saw them propelled into first place.
Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia kept their lead up to the finishing line, in spite of an extremely tricky end to the rally culminating in a snow-covered Col de Turini. Following a first Monte-Carlo win in 2009, when the rally was part of the IRC, the French pair are unbeaten on this route since 2014.
Sébastien Ogier:
"The season has started better than we could have hoped. I knew we were arriving at the start of this Monte-Carlo with less than optimal preparation. The key word was to do the best we could with the means at our disposal. I have to say that winning our first rally with M-Sport, and the Monte-Carlo at that, is simply fantastic! It's an amazing start to our season and we've got some good points in the bank."
"We won't get carried away though, we know we're going to have to keep working hard, but nevertheless it's extremely motivating for the whole team. It's hard to work out how the teams are going to stack up after just one rally, and for us there are a lot of points that we shall be working to improve. Having said that, I felt right from the tests that the Ford Fiesta WRC had some potential and I've just had those feelings confirmed this weekend."
"I've rarely seen such difficult conditions on a Monte-Carlo. I don't think anyone managed a faultless performance, including us. We thought our little mistake on Friday morning would be critical, but we managed to come through and win anyway. We had a stroke of luck, it's true, but that's part of the game. Finally I'd like to say a huge thank you to the spectators here in the Hautes-Alpes, they seem to get more numerous and more welcoming every year. Thanks for your support!"
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