Social media posts today from Sebastien Ogier confirmed that the eight time World Rally Champion will not contest the remaining three races in the 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship.
Ogier has raced at Sebring, Spa and Le Mans in the Signatech-run #1 Richard Mille Racing Oreca 07 alongside fellow WEC rookie Lilou Wadoux and 2021 WEC LMP2 drivers Champion and Le Mans 24 Hours class winner Charles Milesi.
In series of posts on Twitter, Ogier states:
“I’m very thankful to Richard Mille Racing & Signatech for the opportunity they gave me this year! Participating in Sebring, Spa & Le Mans was a great chance to discover FIA WEC and I really enjoyed it.
“However I have always been very clear that my main target was spending more time with my family this year after a very intense career. Therefore it has never been my plan to do a full championship and I will not be able to compete in the next races.
“A big thank you also to my two team mates Lilou Wadoux and Charles Milesi for the great time together! I wish them all the best for the rest of the season.
“À plus,
Seb”
Ogier’s times at both Spa and Le Mans were perfectly respectable for an LMP2 debutant after a struggle at Sebring. They were not though of the order that would suggest an imminent elevation to a Toyota Hypercar programme which had been mooted as a possibility after Ogier tested the GR010 privately and again at the Bahrain WEC ‘Rookie Test’ last year.
No replacement driver has yet been named for the #1 Oreca at Monza in just over two weeks time.
