Sébastien Loeb and Sébastien Ogier are back to challenge each other at the Rallye Monte-Carlo, the first round of the WRC 2022, and will do it again this season. After the announcement a few days ago in which M-Sport made official the presence of the 9-time world champion at the wheel of a Ford Puma Rally1 at the Rally of Portugal, today the rival’s has arrived.
Sébastien Ogier will thus be at the start of the Rally of Portugal, the next round of the World Rally to be held from 19 to 22 May on the dirt road. It will be the first event of the year on that surface and we will be able to see the two most successful drivers in WRC history compete once again.
Ogier will be behind the wheel of an official hybrid GR Yaris Rally1 sporting the number 1 of the reigning world champion on the sides. He will be the teammate of the World Championship leader Kalle Rovanpera and Elfyn Evans, the two drivers designated to run the whole World Championship, so he will take the place of Esapekka Lappi, who raced in Sweden and Croatia instead.
Sébastien Ogier, Benjamin Veillas, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
At the beginning of the season, the 38-year-old transalpine had already indicated the Rally of Portugal as one of the eligible races to race in the WRC. It is one of the events on the calendar that he loves the most, it is no coincidence that he found the time to take part in it while also racing full-time in the WEC, in the LMP2 category, with the Richard Mille team together with Charles Milesi and Lilou Wadoux.
The next appointment that will see Ogier as protagonist in the WEC is the event to be held in Spa-Francorchamps from 5 to 7 May. In the 2022 season, the WEC calendar and the WRC calendar conflict on 2 occasions. For this Ogier will certainly be forced to skip the Acropolis Rally scheduled for September and the Rally of Japan to be held in November, the last round of the WRC.
As for the remaining races, Ogier is expected to take part in 5 WRC events. Considering that Monte-Carlo and Portugal have already been selected, three would be missing. These will be made official later in the season.
#WRC #Ogier #race #Rally #Portugal #Toyota