Fully recovered from the accident in preparation for the Rally Poland, Sebastien Ogier makes his comeback to competition this weekend in Latvia
Sebastien Ogier is ready for his comeback to competition in the 2024 World Rally Championship (WRC). He and co-driver Vincent Landais have both made a full recovery from the road accident he had three weeks ago during the recce for the Rally Poland
As for Ogier, he is now looking forward to the Rally Latvia, which appears on the WRC calendar for the first time this weekend. The eight-time World Rally Champion, who has only been competing for Toyota on a part-time basis since 2022, is not worried about his fitness.
“The fact that I’m here shows that I’m in good shape. Otherwise, I wouldn’t take the risk.”
Ogier wore a neck brace in the days following the accident in Poland. “It was the result of a whiplash injury. Something like that obviously takes a bit of time to fully recover,” reveals the 40-year-old Frenchman.
“Sometimes we underestimate what incidents can do,” Ogier points out and says: “I’m at a point in my life where I don’t want to take any additional risks if I don’t feel 100 percent fit. There was no chance for us to drive the rally in Poland.”
Last week, Ogier was back in the car at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in Great Britain, in this case it was the limited Sebastien Ogier edition of the Toyota GR Yaris for the road. Last Sunday, during a test in Finland, Ogier drove the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 from the World Rally Championship for the first time since the accident in Poland.
Having now arrived in Latvia, Ogier is looking forward to the challenge of competing on unfamiliar special stages: “I think that some of the stages this weekend will be really fun. I would say my favorite stages are the ones on the Friday leg,” he says, referring to the route of the latest rally on the WRC calendar.
“I like new rallies. I like coming to stages where you have to take the notes and trust them during the rally to be fast. For me, that’s pure rally driving, not memorizing onboard videos,” said the eight-time world champion.