Sébastien Ogier is the attraction of the 2022 World Endurance Championship which begins this Friday in Sebring (United States). The Frenchman, with a track record as long as his arm in rallying, has set himself a new challenge by embracing a second career at 38 years old. It is therefore as a rookie that he will compete in his first race on the circuit.
“The circuit is really fun to drive. Now we have to see how the weather will evolve”. It is a half-enthusiastic, half-worried Sébastien Ogier who has been answering us since Sebring, atypical circuit with its bumps and its mix of asphalt and concrete slabs. The grip is already not optimal in the dry. The rain could complicate the learning of the neo track racer a little more. “I am aware that I still have a ton of things to learn, to assimilate a lot of automatisms. This type of car is quite new to me, it takes me a little time to really understand how it works and its limits.” summarizes Sébastien Ogier.
So many differences with the rally
The man with eight world titles and 54 rally victories will discover the basics of Endurance. Starting with the crucial traffic management. “I had been warned but it’s true that sometimes we quickly find ourselves stuck in traffic” noted the Haut-Alpin during the Prologue (free practice at Sebring last weekend). This Friday he will discover the race in a peloton in competition mode. He will have to manage his direct opponents in LMP2 and overtake the GTs. “It’s true that depending on the situation, there will be very little time to make the decision to overtake or not before a bend.”. Important parameter: Sebring offers no escape. One contact and the run can end up in the wall.
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Another characteristic of the Endurance: you have to share the wheel with your teammates. And even before refining the racing strategies and multiple technical choices, cohabitation already involves the best possible adaptation of the cockpit. Corn Sébastien Ogier towers over his young teammate Lilou Wadoux by twenty centimeters. “Ah, it was not easy at first to install and be comfortable! But we found a compromise and it’s better. Even if my legs are a little bent” ” laughs the 38-year-old driver, rather accustomed to the “tailor-made” of these rally cars.
For his baptism in Endurance, Sébastien Ogier remains cautious in terms of objectives. “It’s hard to know where we are at the moment and so I think we have to be realistic. Try to ride with a clean, error-free ride and try to progress nicely” analyzes the driver. The ambitions will come later. Perhaps from the second meeting of the season at Spa-Francorchamps (May 7) or more likely for his first 24 Hours of Le Mans (June 11-12) where he will inevitably be very observed, in this crew of Richard Mille Racing which includes another world champion: Charles Milesi, titled in LMP2 last year. The 21-year-old Frenchman will be the technical reference point for this particular rookie, Sébastien Ogier.