Ogier "proud" to be Monaco great like Senna after record WRC win
Sebastien Ogier is "proud" to be a record-breaker like his boyhood idol, Ayrton Senna after becoming the most successful driver in Monte Carlo Rally history.
Ogier conquered last weekend's Monte Carlo Rally for an eighth time surpassing the seven event victories he shared with his former-Citroen team-mate and countryman, Sebastien Loeb.
The 37-year-old Ogier has achieved the feat with five different manufacturers across three decades, his first coming as an Intercontinental Rally Challenge driver in 2009 with Peugeot. The rest as a World Rally Championship points scorer, driving for Volkswagen, Ford, Citroen and Toyota respectively.
It also marked a half century of wins in the sport's top division alongside Julien Ingrassia.
The streets around the Principality - where the WRC's season-opener finished on Sunday afternoon - were kind to Senna who recorded a record six Formula One Grand Prix triumphs there between 1985 and 1993. - an achievement Ogier wanted to draw comparisons with.
"It is a special day with these numbers but records are not the thing you are really chasing," said Ogier.
"As a competitor, I go for the win when I enter any competition.
"This place has always been unique for me for many, many reasons. My idol was Ayrton Senna and he still has the record here and I join him a little bit with this record - and that makes me proud.
"I think I can dare to say that [this win makes me one of the Monte Carlo greats], yes.
"I definitely have a good feeling for this rally. Probably being born in the Alps helps me to have this connection with the mountains, with the winter conditions we have to face here.
"This is the rally that gave me the dream to be a driver one day.
"The rally I watched as a kid and back then, I was dreaming just one day to have the chance to do it.
"Collecting eight trophies from this rally is something I would have never thought of and I'm very proud of it."
A brake issue on the opening leg followed by a puncture and spin on Friday were the only blots in the copybook of the Toyota driver at an event that was heavily curtailed in distance because of COVID-19.
Ogier took the victory with a comfortable 32.6 second margin over Toyota team-mate Elfyn Evans and co-driver Scott Martin.
"We reacted quickly to come back into the fight and it's not often these days that you see differences in the stage times like this [because of the new tyres]," Ogier added.
"Of course, I was happy to see that I could make a difference when I was pushing."
Ogier tops the standings by nine points from Evans ahead of the championship's visit to the newly installed Arctic Rally Finland on 26-28 February.
WRC Monte Carlo: Ogier seals record eighth event win
Evans struggled to "connect" with new WRC tyres in Monte Carlo
Foyt changes IndyCar number amid "symbolic references" debacle
AJ Foyt Racing has changed the number of Benjamin Pedersen's 2023 IndyCar entry from #88 to #55, after finding its two cars' numbers held "certain ideological and symbolic references".
Taylor: Reset button will be "worn out" but better than limp mode in Daytona 24
Ricky Taylor has zero worries over the pace of the new Acura ARX-06, but believes the new GTP cars will encounter several sensor issues over the course of the Daytona 24 Hours.
WEC assessing Sebring alternative for US round from 2024
The World Endurance Championship has admitted that it is examining alternatives to Sebring for the US round of the series from 2024.
Wehrlein hails "perfect" Porsche strategy, efficiency en route to Diriyah FE win
Pascal Wehrlein reckoned that Porsche's Diriyah E-Prix strategy and efficiency worked "perfectly" en route to claiming his second Formula E victory.
How fired-up Ogier became the WRC's ultimate Monte master
He may only be contesting a part-time campaign in the World Rally Championship these days, but Sebastien Ogier underlined that he's lost none of his speed in the 2023 season opener. Storming to yet another victory on the Monte Carlo Rally, the eight-time world champion rewrote the history books again as Toyota served notice of its intentions with a crushing 1-2
How Lancia pulled off its famous Monte Carlo giantkilling
Audi should have been invincible in the snowy conditions that typically greeted the World Rally Championship paddock in Monte Carlo. But unexpectedly warm weather for the 1983 season opener, combined with some left-field thinking from the Lancia crew turned the tables. Forty years on, team boss Cesare Fiorio reflects on a smash and grab
Why M-Sport has pinned all its efforts on a WRC reunion
M-Sport had a disastrous 2022 with its Rally1 Ford Pumas following Sebastien Loeb’s first-time-out win on the Monte. But now things are looking up with 2019 world champion Ott Tanak leading its attack, and the Cumbrian operation has optimism that it can challenge for a first title since Sebastien Ogier's departure at the end of 2018
The contenders seeking to take Rovanpera's WRC crown
As Kalle Rovanpera begins his World Rally Championship title defence in Monte Carlo, the Finn knows he has a target on his back. But who is best placed to knock the Toyota ace off his perch?
Why Rovanpera is anticipating a fight to defend his WRC title
Question: what could be harder than becoming the youngest-ever World Rally champion? Answer: becoming the youngest-ever two-time World Rally champion. That's quite the challenge facing Toyota's Kalle Rovanpera in 2022, particularly against rejuvenated opposition in the second year of the WRC's hybrid regulations
From F1 to WRC: Why Hyundai's new boss could be an inspired signing
OPINION: New Hyundai WRC team boss Cyril Abiteboul admits he’s got a lot to learn as he leads the marque's efforts to dethrone Toyota. But could his Formula 1 experience and evident strengths mean he turns out to be an inspired choice?
The ultimate rally car project the WRC is glad COVID killed
Toyota was unstoppable in the 2021 World Rally Championship, with an excellent 75% strike rate from 12 rallies. But in a scary proposition for its rivals, the Japanese marque had built a car for the final year of the previous regulations set which it believes was much faster and could feasibly have crushed the opposition completely. Here the story of its mothballed world-beater
Autosport writers' most memorable moments of 2022
The season just gone was a memorable one for many of our staff writers, who are fortunate enough to cover motorsport around the world. Here are our picks of the best (and in some cases, most eventful) from 2022
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.