Job done for Ogier

Based in the town of Armagh in Northern Ireland, the Ulster Rally was run over two days and counted towards both the British and Irish rally championships. Citroen factory driver Simon Jean-Joseph was originally planned to contest the rally as part of his 2008 European event programme, but when he was injured in a boating accident Ogier was asked to substitute.

Despite having to use Jean-Joseph’s co-driver, Jack Boyere, rather that his regular partner Julien Ingrassia, Ogier quickly settled into the event.

“Everything fell perfectly into place,” said Ogier. “I wasn’t at all worried about how long it would take for me to get up to speed with Jack. I knew already that he was a consummate professional, so one stage is all it would take. Afterwards I was able to find the right pace on this very specialised terrain, even though a few of the bumps - which are not obvious at slow speed during the recce - caught me by surprise a bit.”

Ogier led the two-wheel drive category after the first six special stages and was then able to concentrate on consolidating the place throughout Saturday, while also trying to improve his overall position.

“Leg two got underway in dry weather once again,” said Ogier, “On roads that were a little bit dirtier than the ones we had experienced the day before, we maintained our pace in order to be sure of keeping the two-wheel drive lead. When the rain came, we adjusted the set-up. The car reacted perfectly to the changes that we made, working extremely well even when there was a lot of water. I wanted to use this rally to improve my overall experience in a variety of conditions and I certainly got what I wished for! We can draw many positive conclusions from this event.”