Zoom First J-WRC win, first WRC point for Ogier

With the recent announcement by the FIA that Ricardo Trivino was excluded from Rally Mexico for wearing the wrong specification gloves, the final World Rally Championship driver point is now awarded to Junior World Rally Championship newcomer Sébastien Ogier.

The Frenchman and his co-driver Julien Ingrassia made an awesome start to their debut J-WRC season by scoring their first victory of the series on the opening round of the Championship in their Citroën C2.

By originally finishing ninth on the rally, Ogier matched the best-ever result for a J-WRC driver to date, but his promotion to eighth overall sees him enter the record books as he becomes the first ever J-WRC driver to do so; a feat even more amazing on his first-ever WRC rally.

Speaking from his home, Ogier said: "Of course I am very happy as I think this is a record and it is a big achievement for my first rally in the World Championship. But the most important for me is the J-WRC and to keep my first position there. I just have to continue this way. Now Julien (Ingrassia) and I are going to Argentina to do the recce as it's on the calendar for 2009. We don't yet know what we will be doing next year but we want as much experience and preparation as possible."

The FFSA-trained 24-year-old Citroën driver's next competitive outing will be on the second round of the J-WRC, Jordan Rally.

D.B. © CAPSIS International
Source: J-WRC