Sébastien Ogier knew what he’d just achieved was remarkable. Not in an arrogant way, but a realistic one.
Less than an hour after claiming an unprecedented ninth World Rally Championship title on a part-time season, he told the world he was unlikely to do the same again.
Not because he couldn’t, but because the law of averages don’t suggest it.
“This year is probably one of my best seasons ever in terms of performance and in terms of consistency,” Ogier said in Saudi Arabia, late November. “So it worked all together, the stars got aligned, and now I have the chance to get these nine titles.
“But yeah, to press repeat on a season like this would be far from easy.”
Already this has proven to be the case. Extreme weather conditions complicated matters, but third in Monte Carlo was (remarkably) Ogier’s weakest result there in a top-class car in the WRC.
Then in Kenya, the reigning champion was running second to team-mate Oliver Solberg before they both retired with alternator problems on the penultimate day.
It means with eight rounds left on his own schedule, of the 11 remaining in total, Ogier is just sixth in the standings with a 40-point defiit to points leader Elfyn Evans – and that’ll only grow as he misses next week’s Croatia Rally.
However, it transpires there’s more than just math behind Ogier’s slight dip in form.
Talking to DirtFish before he retired from Safari Rally Kenya, the Toyota driver confessed the eight weeks between the 2025 season ending and the 2026 campaign beginning – plus all the commitments in between as the new world champion – took their toll.
“I arrived here definitely in a bit better state of mind than I arrived in Monte Carlo, not even than I left,” Ogier said.
Ogier still got a podium in Monte Carlo, but was feeling the hangover from a hectic 2025
“Monte Carlo arrived too early for me this year. I was not recharged mentally from last year. I was not having the motivation you need to have and, yeah, maybe it’s the price of all those years – it’s never easy.
“I think you can ask any sportsman, athlete, champion who are in the sport for many years. At some points the motivation is the biggest thing to fight against because, even [though] it was Monte… I don’t know, I wasn’t really fully there.
“And of course seeing a full amount of snow at the beginning of the week didn’t really encourage or increase my motivation, let’s say.”
Ogier felt re-energized in Kenya, however, and is looking forward to the rest of the season where he expects to have some big fights with team-mate Solberg.
“It’s nice to have this young guy pushing,” said Ogier, who’s 18 years older than the Swede. “And obviously all the question marks, if he will be ready to fight this year, are pretty much ticked now.
“Everybody has seen that he has the potential and I’m looking forward for the fights we’re going to have this year. There will be some rallies coming which I’m sure will be very enjoyable.”
