World rally star Sébastien Ogier joins TAG Heuer
TAG Heuer is proud to announce that World Rally star Sébastien Ogier has joined the elite corps of racing champions on the TAG Heuer “Dream Team” of Brand Ambassadors.
The French driver, winner of the Junior Rally Championship in 2008 and now driving for Citroen’s top team in WRC, will participate worldwide in TAG Heuer’s “150 Years of Motor-Racing” celebrations in 2011, alongside Vodafone McLaren Mercedes stars Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button and four-time F1 Champion Alain Prost.
“All the great heroes of motor-racing,” said the 28-year-old Ogier, “from Juan Manuel Fangio to Ayrton Senna to Lewis Hamilton, have been part of the TAG Heuer legend. Now I’m thrilled to be part of it too, and I will do my best to merit the honor.”
After his impressive showing last season with the Citroen Junior Team — including two wins in the WRC Championship — Sébastien Ogier will partner this year with his countryman and seven-time World Champion Sébastien Loeb. After his impressive 4th place overall finish last year, Ogier is widely expected to be challenger for the 2011 WRC title. The thirteen-race season is played out on five continents and kicks off February 10th with the Swedish Rally.
“Signing Sébastien Ogier gives TAG Heuer solid representation in every major arena of motor sports,” said TAG Heuer CEO Jean-Christophe Babin. “Adding the World Rally to our existing partnerships with the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes in F1, Audi Sport in Le Mans and Endurance racing, the Automobile Club of Monaco, and our longstanding role as Official Watch of the Indy 500, truly makes us the “Masters of Speed” in the watch industry.”
“Mastering Speed” is the title of TAG Heuer’s yearlong celebrations of 150 years of motor sport. The core of the celebration is a traveling exhibition of historic TAG Heuer timepieces inspired by motor-sports. The “Mastering Speed” exhibition will tour the world in 2011 as part of TAG Heuer’s ambitious “150 Years of Motor Racing” celebrations.
“Time & precision are critical in my sport’’, confirmed Sébastien Ogier. ‘’Mastering my speed in every single part of a rally leg, in slow corners as well as in high-speed straights, can help gaining time and rankings. Fractions of second can make the difference. Mastering Speed is a perfect expression of my discipline, the rally.”
Besides his racing performances, Sébastien Ogier will work as a “driving vision” technical consultant for TAG Heuer, collaborating closely with TAG Heuer designers and engineers on the development of new TAG Heuer frames. He is already wearing the Squadra 5500 Eyewear made of stainless steel and elastomer temples with flexible-armed glasses offer top ergonomics and fit, plus multiple adjustability— even under a racing helmet. Sébastien will also test eyewear with lenses specially designed for driving in snow.
“Rally driving is the perfect test ground for product development,’’ said Pierre Verrier, CEO of Logo, the maker of TAG Heuer Eyewear. ‘It requires night and day, high-speed and high-performance driving under all types of weather conditions and on every type of roads. Having Sébastien give us his technical feedback will help us design the best eyewear products possible for regular, everyday use in cars and on motorbikes”.
Sébastien will also appear in endorsements with the newest addition to the TAG Heuer legacy: the Carrera Calibre 1887 Chronograph. The in-house, 100% Swiss manufactured, integrated column-wheel chronograph movement pays tribute to the original Heuer oscillating pinion of 1887, one of the brand’s first patents and a major benchmark in modern watchmaking. The latest incarnation of the iconic Carrera — and the 2010 winner of “La Petite Aiguille” Best Watch of the Year Award at the Grand Prix de l’Horlogerie de Genève — the stylish Chronograph is a perfect endorsement product for the WRC driver, as it gets its name from the Carrera Panamericana Mexico Road Race, one of the most famous rallies in motor-sports history.
