![24 Hours of Le Mans and the WRC [1] – Sébastien Ogier and the pioneers](https://www.lemans.org/media/cache/api_news_large/assets/fileuploads/62/4c/624c46b5e1e5b.jpg)
24h Le Mans
Sixteen years after the second place overall finish for his former teammate and rival Sébastien Loeb, this year Sébastien Ogier will become the fifth WRC champion to take the start in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. After eight wins on road circuits, he has been preparing for the race in June by competing in the first two rounds of the FIA World Endurance Championship.
After taking the wheel of a Toyota GR010 Hybrid for the Rookie Test at Bahrain held after the last round of the 2021 FIA World Endurance Championship, Sébastien Ogier is now gearing up for his first 24 Hours of Le Mans (LMP2) at the wheel of Richard Mille Racing's #1 ORECA 07 shared with Lilou Wadoux and Charles Milesi (LMP2 winner at last year's race with Team WRT).
Ogier took the start in the first round and will do so in the second race of the 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship at two of the most challenging circuits on the calendar: Sebring (18 March) and Spa-Francorchamps (7 May), perfect preparation for the 24 Hours. Eight-time WRC champion Sébastien Ogier: "That is how I'm looking at it as well. The first two races are the best preparation for Le Mans, but it all happens very quickly. I've already done Sebring and fortunately there was the Prologue where we covered some kilometers, but it's true that once race week starts, you don't get to hit the track as much ahead of the race. We didn't have a great showing at Sebring (11th in LMP2, Ed.), but I think it's more important to have done laps and already assimilated a lot of things about the format of the race like traffic management and all of the procedures you have to practice so they become automatic. So, above and beyond the result, Sebring was still a good experience. We do have a testing session planned for Spa-Francorchamps so the team can continue to prepare. Unfortunately, I won't be able to take part, but my two teammates will hit the track on both days and I hope the team will be able to tweak the settings so we will perform better at Spa and thereafter. I continue my physical preparation and will also put in simulator time to get ready."
Ogier will write a new chapter in June for WRC champions at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a history that began half a century ago even before the first WRC drivers title was awarded.
Björn Waldegård holds a special place in the shared history of Le Mans and the WRC as the first rally champion seen at the race…before the title even existed. The Swedish driver's sole participation in the 24 Hours dates back to 1971 with a Porsche 911 S shared with Swiss driver Bernard Chenevière. Their car was fielded by Jean Sage who himself had competed at Le Mans three times before becoming Sporting Director for the Renault F1 team from 1977 to 1985. After qualifying in 34th position, the #36 911 S finished 13th. Waldegård was the first driver to win the WRC title after its creation in 1979, and scored 16 wins in the WRC between 1974 and 1990. He passed away in 2014 at the age of 70.
In 1980, Walter Röhrl succeeded Björn Waldegård and won the first of his two world titles in the WRC. The following year, he took his rookie start in the 24 Hours as a factory Porsche driver, finishing in the top 10 (seventh) at the wheel of a factory 924 GTP. The German driver waited until 1993 to return to Le Mans, again with Porsche, but was forced to retire. Röhrl's teammates for both participations were all previous 24 Hours winners: Jürgen Barth in 1981 (winner in 1977), then Hans-Joachim Stuck and Hurley Haywood in 1993 (winners in 1986, 1987 and 1977, 1983, 1994, respectively). A two-time title winner (in 1980 and 1982), Rörhl won 14 victories in the WRC from 1975 to 1985.
The youngest driver to triumph in the WRC at the age of 27, Colin McRae (1968-2007) also established a new win record in 2004, the year of his only participation in the 24 Hours. The Scotsman joined forces with the Brit Darren Turner and Swedish driver Rickard Rydell with a Ferrari 550 Maranello fielded by Prodrive Racing. McRae had won his world title at the wheel of a Subaru of whom Prodrive was the official WRC representative and for whom he had driven from 1993 to 1998. The trio in the #65 Ferrari finished in the overall top 10 and third in its class, beaten only by the two factory Corvettes' one-two. A son and brother of rally drivers (his father Jimmy and his younger brother Alister were both British champions), McRae earned the title in 1995 and clinched 25 victories in the WRC.
McRae's participation in the 24 Hours was a major draw in 2004, just as Sébastien Loeb's had been at the two previous runnings of the race. The story of a driver, but also of a team owner, to follow in the next installment in this series...
PHOTOS FROM TOP TO BOTTOM - SEBRING INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY (FLORIDA, U.S.), 1000 MILES OF SEBRING, 16-18 MARCH 2022: Sébastien Ogier and the red #1 ORECA 01 fielded by Richard Mille Racing Team shared with Lilou Wadoux and Charles Milési (Copyright - DDPI Images/Richard Mille Racing Team). LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 1971 AND 1981 24 HOURS OF LE MANS: the first two WRC champions, Björn Waldegård and Walter Röhrl, both took their rookie starts in the 24 Hours with Porsche, the first with the #36 911 and the second with #1 924 (Copyright - ACO Archives).
