It was his last race too. Julien Ingrassia, the Sébastien Ogier’s co-pilot for 15 years, has just finished in apotheosis this Sunday in Italy (Monza): 8th world rally champion title for the duo. Gap driver Sébastien Ogier has already announced that in 2022 he will only play a few rounds with Toyota, to devote himself to his family in particular. But it will be without his historic co-driver: at 42, Julien Ingrassia hangs up.
The native of Aix-en-Provence confided all his joy and emotion to France Bleu Provence.
France Bleu Provence; first of all, bravo to you Julien! A victory rich in emotions …
Julien Ingrassia : It was a fabulous moment in my career, but not only … In a man’s life too, it is important, and indeed very rich in emotion!
We saw you standing on the roof of the car in Monza, with the French flag and Sébastien beside it. It’s a “crazy” moment
And even more than that! We do not realize the adrenaline we have for weeks in rally and the risks we take, the elements in which we evolve … This joy, this emotion and the fact that this is my last race of my co-pilot career …. Wow! That’s a lot of emotions.
So the tears … we saw them
They came out really spontaneously and they are tears of joy. Really, make no mistake, there was no sadness in that. But as in the films, we see again spending these fifteen years of collaboration and work, where we had to pass each step and win each challenge.
Fifteen years, 54 victories together: How can you explain this alchemy between you two, if not that you are both from the South!
It is true that I am a native of Aix and Séb de Gap. We know what a winding mountain road is, we are so lucky! Beyond that, from day one we really had the same desire to take things seriously and not imagine that it would be just a parenthesis in our life. It wasn’t just pulling the hand brakes and having fun.
We immediately said that it was a unique chance because neither he nor I were born into well-off families or with a predisposition for rallying. We seized this opportunity there and with twenty euros placed on the table placed on the table to engage in our first rally, the adventure took us to an eighth world champion title this year.
“With twenty euros placed on the table placed on the table to engage in our first rally, the adventure took us to an eighth world champion title this year” -Julien Ingrassia
Your great strength is also that you have changed teams, you have changed teams and you have always adapted, it is even stronger
We spent insane energy and really high concentration. There is no break in the WRC. In rallies, we don’t have a season with a long Christmas holiday. You have to get back to work right away to prepare everything. Our strength was to be efficient and to know how to unite people around us and in the teams where we were evolving.
At 42, you are at your best, so why retire?
It’s a decision I made. I tell myself that I am really lucky to have lived these fifteen years at this level. It’s just extraordinary and I have more or less always set myself the goal of finishing on top, as they say. It’s not a lack of ambition on my part, but it’s just ending with a big smile on the face and do not overdo the season. I’m really happy to end on that note, it’s flawless.
“It will allow me to get closer to mine, to turn the page and write another one. For a co-pilot, that makes sense” -Julien Ingrassia
It’s up to me to retrain myself in the future and that will give me the opportunity to spend a little more time in Aix-en-Provence to go see my father, especially at his physiotherapy practice at La Rotonde! It will allow me to get closer to my family, to turn the page and write another one. For a co-pilot, this makes sense.