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Ogier and co-driver Julien Ingrassia sealed a sixth WRC title with a stage to spare in Coffs Harbor, thanks to title rivals Thierry Neuville and Tanak both crashing out on consecutive stages early in the final loop.
<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "Neuville was first to drop out of contention after hitting a stump on the Coramba test, before Tanak clipped a tree on the Sapphire stage and damaged his Yaris 'transmission. "data-reactid =" 12 "> Neuville was first to drop out of contention after hitting a stump on the Coramba test, before Tanak clipped a tree on the Sapphire stage and damaged his Yaris' transmission.
It was at that moment that Ogier was guaranteed a sixth crown, regardless of whether he saw the finish.
While the crashes made it a dramatic end to the season from the outside, Ogier reckons it was anticlimactic from inside his M-Sport Ford.
The Frenchman says he and Ingrassia found out about Tanak's crash during a road section, which sucked the emotion out of the moment.
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<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "Australia WRC: Latvala wins, crashes help Ogier claim title"data-reactid =" 17 "> Australia WRC: Latvala wins, crashes help Ogier claim title
"The problem is the way it happened today, it was a bit strange," he said when asked why his celebration was a little subdued compared to 2017.
"Ott stopped, we had a message on the road section and we were … okay, now it's done.
"It somewhat killed the emotion of the moment. But give me a bit of time, and I can tell you I'll enjoy it even more."
Ogier added that he can not pick a favorite from his six consecutive WRC titles, and that it's a different satisfaction to the four he collected at the wheel of the all-conquering Volkswagen between 2013 and 2016.
"They all taste good to me," he said. "I value all of them, because we had the best package with Volkswagen, but I believe we also invested a lot of energy and time to make that happen and to create all that together, and I was proud that we developed this [competition-]killing machine.
"This [with M-Sport] was a different way, and of course that's nice because. As a driver, that proves we can adapt and we can succeed in different conditions. That makes me happy.
"Six in a row, it's something really special. It's hard to put words on it."
<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "Additional reporting by David Evans"data-reactid =" 25 ">Additional reporting by David Evans
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