Sébastien Ogier’s future was unveiled this afternoon and, as expected, he will be in the World Endurance Championship. The 8-time World Rally Champion, after coming close to his ninth win at Rallye Monte-Carlo a few days ago, has been announced as one of the three starting drivers of the Richard Mille Racing team.
The Monegasque team, born two seasons ago, has unveiled the entire line up for the 2022 season of the WEC, LMP2 category. In addition to Sébastien Ogier, the crew will consist of a driver of absolute value such as Charles Milesi and the rising female star Lilou Wadoux.
Richard Mille Racing thus replaces the all-female crew made up of Beitske Visser, Sophia Floersh and Tatiana Calderon. From a group of three women to a mixed crew, made up of a rookie with high ambitions like Ogier, a driver who knows the category very well like Milesi and another rookie like Wadoux, who recently raced in the Alpine Elf Europa Cup.
For Ogier, this is an important step towards his new career, which sees him leave the WRC after having won everything several times and embark on an unknown but extremely fascinating adventure. It’s no secret that his ambitions are even higher, which is to race in the Hypercar class. But to get to that step he will have to learn several things, including overtaking, defending himself, being on the track with cars that are slower and faster than him. Certainly not all for granted for those who have not had to worry about these aspects in their category.
“I know it is a very big challenge, but I was looking forward to having a program that could motivate me more than the easier options for me. Up until now I have been focusing on my career in rallying, but I have had racing in mind for a long time. endurance. The LMP2 is a fantastic category, the best for me to be able to reach the highest level in endurance and improve in this discipline, the WEC. “
Ogier, Milesi and Wadoux will make their debut at Sebring at the wheel of the red and white number 1 Oreca-Gibson before moving to Europe, racing the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 6 Hours of Monza. Then the team will travel to Japan for the Fuji 6 Hours and, 2 months later, to Bahrain for the final act in Sakhir, the Bahrain 8 Hours.
Both Sébastien Ogier and Charles Milesi had taken part in the 2021 rookie tests of the WEC at the wheel of the Toyota Hypercar 010, signing interesting times for the debut with the Japanese car. Both had previously tried the Cologne simulator, while last week Ogier had the opportunity to test the GR010 again in Aragon, Spain, a few hours after obtaining a daring second place in the Principality.
Charles Milesi, Sébastien Ogier, Lilou Wadoux, Richard Mille Racing Team
Photo by: Richard Mille Racing Team
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