Member of the Volkswagen Board of
Management in the Development division, Dr. Ulrich Hackenburg said:
“I am very happy about Sebastian Ogier and Julien Ingrassia joining
us. Both of them are important pieces of the puzzle on our way
towards building a successful team in the World Rally Championship.
It is also a mark of confidence for our team if such a strong pairing
opts for a new team in the WRC that is still in the process of being
developed.”
News broke last week that Ogier had left Citroen, the team who
launched him to prominence in the WRC, to be replaced by Mikko
Hirvonen. After the move, there was no word of where Ogier would be
going and who would fill the second Ford seat, with the Frenchman was
widely expected to go to Ford.
Now Ogier is VW's first publicly announced driver he will have the
12 month development schedule of the new car ahead of him. However,
he will also get a full 12-round season next year behind the wheel of
a VW supported and run Skoda Fabia S2000. The full complement of
rallies will allow him to stay “match fit” and “familiarise
myself with those events that I don't know so well”.
The long development programme will allow Ogier to have a say in
almost all of the Polo R WRC's development, which will allow him to
tailor the car to his style of driving. He will also take some
experience of the development of the championship-winning Citroen DS3
WRC, which may come in useful whilst developing the Polo R WRC.
It has also emerged that double-World Champion Carlos Sainz
recommended that Ogier be signed to the squad. Sainz works as an
advisor for Volkswagen and drove for the team in multiple Dakar
Rallies, ultimately winning the mammoth rally in 2010. Sainz says
that, for him, “Sebastien is one of the world’s three best
drivers”.
Many drivers were linked to the VW seat, with Sebastien Loeb,
Petter Solberg, Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala, as well as all
the young drivers who drove VW-supported Fabia S2000's during the
year, were all linked to the seat. In the end, Loeb decided to stay
with Citroen and Hirvonen signed for Citroen, leaving Latvala and
Solberg available. Latvala is now expected to stay at Ford, leaving
only Solberg, who was been long-time linked to the German squad, plus
the all the drivers who drove the Fabia's.
VW Motorsport's Kris Nissen said: “We are proud that such a
successful and quick duo as Sebastian and Julien have decided to join
Volkswagen. The aim of putting a competitive Polo R WRC on the road
for them as quickly as possible will additionally drive our team. We
look forward to working with them and are hoping for many victories
and titles in the future.”
Ogier's first event as an official VW driver will be the Race of
Champions next weekend in Düsseldorf, Germany. He will partner GP2
Champion and Lotus-Renault GP test and reserve driver Romain Grosjean
under the Team France banner. Ogier's first World Rally event as a VW
driver will be Rallye Monte Carlo in January, on which he will drive
a Fabia S2000.
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