ogier backed to claim first wrc win

Ogier came within three corners of taking his maiden victory in the WRC on Rally New Zealand but a spin and stall dropped him back to second place behind Jari-Matti Latvala, albeit a scant 2.4 seconds adrift of the factory Ford driver.

“He is still learning but his performance in New Zealand, which is such a specialised rally, was exceptional and is very positive for his future,” said Nogier, who runs the Citroen Junior Team. “It can be soon when he wins his first WRC event, I really believe that.”

Ogier, who is co-driven by Julien Ingrassia, was taking part in New Zealand’s world championship qualifier for the first time. Despite his late drama, the 26-year-old from France still had reason for cheer after equalling his best WRC result of second place on the Auckland-based event.

“It’s the race and it’s never finished until the finish line,” said Ogier. “I’m still happy with my weekend and Julien and I did a good job. I want to thank all the team because it wasn’t planned for us to come here at the start of the season but Citroen found the budget. For sure it was a big disappointment to lose my first victory like this but if I continue in this way I will have a victory soon.”

Ogier’s drive also earned praise from Citroen team leader Sebastien Loeb, who had moved ahead of Ogier when his understudy suffered his first of two spins on Sunday on the opening Te Hutewai stage. “He has been very fast and very impressive,” said Loeb.

“It was good news to be close to Sebastien Loeb and I was faster than everybody else except for him,” said Ogier. “We have to continue to learn but with this result I am confident for the rest of the season.”

Ogier, the 2008 Junior world champion, moved to fourth place in the drivers’ standings following his second place finish in New Zealand. His next event is Vodafone Rally de Portugal at the end of May.