There are a few sentences you couldn’t really imagine Andrea Adamo saying. And this one’s right up there with the best of them.
Sébastien Ogier and Adamo haven’t always seen eye-to-eye. It’s fair to say the Frenchman hasn’t always appreciated the Italian’s approach to team orders. But there’s respect on both sides. Both are the fiercest of competitors. And that’s why Adamo says he will miss the seven-time champion if he does depart the World Rally Championship at the end of this season.
“If Ogier is withdrawing, I will miss him,” the Italian ventures. “Honestly. I always miss smart, clever and committed people – he is one I can learn a lot of very smart moves from.”
It’s important to underline at this point, this isn’t Adamo trying to score points or pull a fast one. He’s being straight down the line, up front and honest. He’s taken on his ‘listen carefully, I’m serious about this’ tone of voice.
And he goes on to say more.
“In terms of his CV, ****** hell, I don’t need to comment, that speaks for itself. My hero has always been Walter Röhrl. Röhrl won Monte Carlo with four different manufacturers and now Ogier has beaten him!”
Having grown up watching some of the sport’s legendary characters such as Röhrl, Markku Alén and Miki Biasion, Adamo understands the need for rallying to have these kind of people in the service park.
He added: “Sébastien, Ott [Tänak], Thierry [Neuville], all these kind of characters are needed in rallying. It’s a manufacturer sport for me, but the manufacturers are there because the people also need somebody to cheer and somebody like Ogier could be loved.
“But if you look at his career he has always been one of the smartest people I have seen. You know me, I have always spent a long time studying what other people are doing to improve myself and he has always been very smart, straightforward.
“People talk about me being ruthless, I am not ruthless, he is ruthless. Someone like him will be missed in motorsport.”
