Ending six weeks of speculation on the future of reigning FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) champion Sebastien Ogier after Volkswagen Motorsport's abrupt exit, the French driver joined UK based M-Sport for the next season.
Ogier and Ott Tanak (co-driver Martin Jarveoja ) will form the driver line-up for M-Sport in the 2017 FIA WRC season scheduled to begin with Monte-Carlo Rally starting on January 19. Ogier will be co-driven by Julien Ingrassia, his partner at Volkswagen Motorsport. The due will compete in the all-new Ecoboost-powered Ford Fiesta WRC.
Ogier was left to find a new team after his 2016 team Volkswagen Motorsport decided to end its WRC programme at the end of the season. The move is believed to be tied with the losses VW Group suffered from its highly-publicised emissions scandal in 2015.
Since starting his WRC campaign in 2008, the Frenchmen have secured four world championships (2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016), 38 victories, 56 podiums and an impressive 475 stage wins.
"There will be a lot of new things this season, but I am definitely looking forward to it. We have a new generation of world rally cars, and a new team – it's certainly an exciting time," said Ogier. "There's not long before we line-up at the start of Rallye Monte-Carlo and we've not had a lot of seat time with the Ford Fiesta WRC, but we'll give it our best to be ready. We're aware of the challenges, and I can see how hungry Malcolm and his team are for success," he added.
The Ford Fiesta WRC of Ogier will produce 380bhp and 450 Nm of torque from its bespoke Ecoboost-powered 1600cc direct injection engine and 36mm inlet restrictor. A newly-designed six-speed sequential gearbox with hydraulic shift runs alongside a multi-disc clutch and an active centre differential is expected to return better control and performance.
