Ogier finished the opening round of the season, in Sweden, in 5th place, having competed on unknown territory in the WRC. Dani Sordo only managed a 4th place in the overall classification, after previously being criticized by his boss for not taking care of his car's air-intake shields (which made him stop the car during the last stage of Day 2 and lose time in the process).
The mistake eventually cost Sordo the 3rd place in Rally Sweden. One cannot say the same thing of Ogier, who made a great impression until the finish line and ran in a worry-less 5th place from beginning to end.
“For me, it's very unbelievable what Seb [Ogier] has done on Rally Sweden. He had no problems. On the first day, I asked him: 'Seb, please it's new for you to rally here and I won't be pleased if you go off on the first day.' He said, okay, no problem and he drove very well on the first day, then we pushed more and I was happy for him to push more on the second and third days and it was perfect,” said Quesnel.
“For me, he is France's next world champion and the next big thing in the World Rally Championship. What he has done is amazing. He is strong and fast and I won't be surprised if he wins one or two rallies this season,” added the French official.
With Dani Sordo's deal with Citroen due to expire at the end of this season, some wins in the WRC seem more like necessary to the Spaniard to keep his place within the outfit. Quesnel himself admitted that Sordo is currently under a lot of pressure from Ogier (currently driving for Citroen's satellite Junior Team), and needs to deal with it like a professional.
“Seb is pressure for Dani, but Dani's a professional driver and he knows how to deal with this,” added the Citroen boss.
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