Ogier took a lot of joy from his win on Sunday, so rallying clearly still means a great deal to him. He also acknowledged how special the victory was for his new co-driver Vincent Landais. “It’s huge,” he said with a smile. “I love this rally. It’s the one which gave me the dream right at the beginning and I am so happy for Vincent. For me it’s nice, but for him it’s a dream to take his first win.
“We still need to enjoy these moments and that’s why we are still here [in the WRC], to catch some victories like this. To win a famous one like Monte has no price.”
OK, hang on. Let’s look at his approach from another direction. For all we’re clearly missing out on, perhaps it’s refreshing that Ogier is no longer motivated by notching up world titles, that all he wants to do is win rallies and savour the purity of that feeling. It’s a throwback to past greats, isn’t it? I’m thinking primarily of Walter Röhrl, a two-time world champion who turned his back on winning a third because he claimed it would do little for him.
Röhrl won the Monte four times in quick succession: in rear-driven Fiat 131 Abarth and Opel Ascona in his title years of 1980 and ’82 respectively, then famously for Lancia in the glorious 037 in ’83 – the year he stubbornly chose to only compete six times, leaving the way clear for Audi’s Hannu Mikkola to claim the crown. He then sensationally switched to old enemy Audi for ’84 and promptly scored perhaps his greatest victory.
I asked Röhrl about his odd attitude to success when I interviewed him for Motor Sport back in 2010. It was a proper pinch-me moment to listen to him as he recounted how the obtuse reticence had kicked in as early as the aftermath of his first WRC title. “I wanted to show that I was the best and then stop,” he said. “After 1980 [co-driver] Christian [Geistdörfer] said to me ‘you must be crazy to stop now, we are world champions. For the first time we can earn money!’ I told him ‘I don’t do it for money, I do it just for me. I only want to know for myself if I’m good, and out in the forest at night it’s the right place for me’.
“World Championships didn’t mean much to me,” he insisted. “In 1983 I was lying second in the world championship by three points, from six rallies. Everybody said you must do one rally more. But I said no, I don’t want to be champion. It doesn’t give me anything.”
Röhrl did admit he was “strange” – I agree, but wonderfully so! And he also professed to some regret for that decision. Not much, but some.
Twenty-odd years from now, I wonder if Ogier might have some regret too, for not taking on Rovanperä over a full season, just to find out how it would work out. He clearly has nothing to prove given the astonishing career he’s had on the stages. But isn’t he just a little bit curious, especially as Rovanperä is obviously his successor?