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Special feature

Autosport 2021 Top 50: #4 Sebastien Ogier

1st in World Rally Championship

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Top 50 Drivers of 2021

Autosport's team of expert journalists got together to try to assess who were the top 50 drivers of 2021. Here are the results.

Sebastien Ogier brought the curtain down on his full-time World Rally Championship career in style by winning an eighth world title. His latest championship, following previous successes in 2013-2018 and 2020, was perhaps not his most convincing. But the manner in which he clinched it, while handling the added pressure of knowing it was his last chance, was mightily impressive.

Title number eight seemed inevitable after he won four of the first six rallies, including a record eighth Monte Carlo Rally success. That victory was one of the Frenchman’s best, recovering from a flat tyre to romp home 32.6s clear of Toyota team-mate Elfyn Evans.

Thereafter, as in 2020, Ogier faced a strong challenge from Evans, and the Welshman was an ever-present threat on Croatia’s asphalt. Ogier had endured a tough rally, including a traffic accident on a road section, but proved his mettle under pressure to snatch victory from Evans on the final powerstage by 0.6s – the third-closest winning margin in WRC history.

At times, when unable to match the speed of the Hyundais, Ogier’s ever-reliable Toyota Yaris helped guide him to victories, such as in the attritional Sardinia and on the WRC’s return to Kenya for the Safari Rally when his rivals faltered.

The second half of the season was poor by his high standards – he scored only one podium in the next five rallies as he engaged preservation mode. A hallmark of Ogier’s secret to success was there for all to see, however, as he kept scoring points, knowing when to push and concede while making few errors. Arguably the only on-stage error of his season was a crash into a snowbank in February’s Arctic Rally Finland, costing him a chance of decent points. Even so, he salvaged a point from the powerstage.

Ogier had a knack of picking up points where rivals faltered, taking victory on the Safari Rally's long-awaited return

Ogier had a knack of picking up points where rivals faltered, taking victory on the Safari Rally's long-awaited return

Photo by: Toyota Racing

Ogier’s advantage was 44 points with three rallies to go, but Evans’s late form kept the title race alive to the Monza finale, where Ogier had a 17-point lead to defend. He didn’t need to win the rally to secure the title but, after a titanic scrap where the lead changed hands six times between the title protagonists, it was Ogier and retiring co-driver Julien Ingrassia who emerged on top. It was a fitting way to sign off.

How Ogier staked a claim to be WRC’s greatest of all time

Sebastien Ogier has earned plenty of plaudits during a period of WRC dominance that has now yielded eight world titles, but it’s praise from peers he cherishes the most.

In the eyes of many, he should be considered rallying’s greatest of all-time with his record of winning titles with Volkswagen (2013-16), M-Sport Ford (2017-18) and Toyota (2020-21) compared to that of Sebastien Loeb, who won each of his nine titles with Citroen.

Ogier will be back to contest selected rallies next year, alongside a planned move into endurance racing, but the sight of him and co-driver Julien Ingrassia fighting for world titles has been consigned to history.
The Ogier versus Loeb debate as to who is better will forever rattle on, but those who have watched his career insist Ogier is one of rallying’s greatest.

Reflecting on his compatriot’s career, Loeb says he admires Ogier’s consistency and Fangio-like ability to ensure he has the best equipment possible.

“What makes him consistent is, I think, he is also the best in the fact that he believes he is not leaving the rallies without points,” says Loeb.

Petter Solberg, the 2003 WRC champion, considers Ogier the “total package”, citing his motivation and the ability to extract winning potential from different cars to support his case.

Ogier is regarded by his peers as one of rallying's true greats

Ogier is regarded by his peers as one of rallying's true greats

Photo by: Toyota Racing

Those who have worked closely with Ogier are also convinced. Having driven alongside him at VW and now managed him as Toyota’s team boss, Jari-Matti Latvala believes the 37-year-old “is the hardest head-to-head fighter we have ever seen in the rally world”.

“He gets this spark when he is under pressure and, when he is fighting, he seems to get more energy for these moments,” Latvala says.

Meanwhile, M-Sport team principal Richard Millener reserves the highest of praise for his former driver. “For me he is the best driver to have ever driven in the WRC,” says Millener. “When you look at the fights he has had to win his championships, I think they have been some of the most difficult in the history of the WRC.”

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