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WRC champion Ogier to drive VW Polo again in Colin McRae tribute

Sebastien Ogier will be reunited with Volkswagen's all-conquering World Rally Championship Polo in an October event to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Colin McRae's death.

A total of 13 world champions will take part in the Rallylegend event in San Marino on October 19-22, which regularly pairs drivers with the machinery they drove from years past.

This year's event pays tribute to McRae, who died in September 2007, with his former team-mate - as Carlos Sainz's co-driver - Luis Moya playing a key role.

Now with M-Sport following Volkswagen's WRC exit at the end of 2016, Ogier will drive last year's title-winning Polo R WRC.

"I called Malcolm [Wilson, M-Sport team principal] to ask if it would be possible to let Seb drive the Polo, even though I understand he drives a Ford Fiesta now," Moya told Autosport.

"Straight away, Malcolm said, 'Luis, it's no problem'.

"It was the same answer when I called Sven [Smeets, Volkswagen Motorsport director] and asked if we could borrow the Polo from last year.

"When it's an event like this and it's for Colin, it's no problem.

"From every phone call I make, it's so clear to see the power that Colin had."

The line-up includes also McRae's former co-drivers Derek Ringer and Nicky Grist, while Alister McRae will lead a demonstration through San Marino in his brother's 1995 WRC-winning Subaru Impreza.

Hans Thorszelius and Robert Reid will be present to represent WRC drivers' champions Bjorn Waldegaard and Richard Burns.

"I met with the organiser of the event and they told me what they wanted to do and I said I would help," Moya added.

"But I just made the phone calls, Colin McRae did the real job when he was driving.

"There was only ever one of him in the sport, he was in the mind of everybody - you only had to say the name and everybody loved him.

"I started on the telephone and everybody kept saying yes. The only champion missing is Carlos [Sainz].

"Carlos was so disappointed, but his son is racing [with Toro Rosso in Formula 1] in Texas the same weekend and they have a family get together that he cannot miss.

"Anything else and Carlos would have been there."

Zdroj: autosport.com