Red Bull driver Sebastien Ogier is no stranger to excursions into the scenery – like any rally driver. But last month he had his biggest shunt ever. It was in Monte Carlo on his first rally in a Skoda Fabia S2000, which he is driving while developing the all-new Polo WRC. The Frenchman takes up the story of a debut that he will never forget...
“I had been quite lucky in my career before the Rallye Monte-Carlo. Yes, I’d had some accidents but nothing too bad, nothing that was really big. But then I had my crash on the Monte. This one was big, this was the biggest I ever had.
"The crash came when I was pushing to try and not lose too much time. This year, I am driving a Skoda Fabia S2000 with the Volkswagen Motorsport team and we had managed to get among the World Rally Cars early in the event by making some clever tyre decisions. I was trying really hard to stay there.
"The crash came in a very fast right-hand corner. In my pace notes, I had the corner marked as almost flat-out, but on the second time we drove this stage I decided to take it flat-out. I cut the corner a little bit, but where the other cars had been through the stage the side of the road had been dug out a little bit.
'I was flat-out when the car hit the road and threw us into air.'
"I was flat-out in sixth gear when the bottom of the car hit the road and threw us into air and over the road. We spun and went into some trees. In the crash, we chopped down 10 trees and one electric pole; I know this because I counted them when I got out – it was unbelievable.
"My co-driver Julien [Ingrassia] hurt his arm and I had to wear a neck brace, but this was just to keep my neck in the same place. It was a big crash, with some big speed. I was happy that the team built a strong car, but at the same time the crash was going on for a long time, which meant we were getting rid of the energy for a long time – this is much better than one big bang.”
So far, Rally Sweden has gone OK for Ogier: he is 11th overall with no dramas. Once bitten, twice shy…
Citroën Racing Media
Want more?
- Visit the Rally Sweden event page
- Official site of the WRC
- More on Sebastien Ogier
- Watch videos on the official WRC YouTube channel
- More Red Bull Motor Sports
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