Ingrassia made his debut in rallying in 2002 at the Critérium des Cévennes. He had several experiences in regional rallies and took part in a single-brand championship for the first time in 2004, the Coupe Peugeot 206.
Debut with the French Federation
In 2006, he joined Sébastien Ogier in the Rallye Jeunes FFSA team. Together, they took their first wins in Coupe Peugeot 206. They also learnt their way on regional and national rallies, before rapidly tackling the international scene. 2008: JWRC World Champion Ingrassia reached the world level entering the Junior world rally championship with the Equipe de France FFSA run by the French Federation. With three wins out of six rallies during the season, he won the JWRC World Rally Champion title with Sébastien Ogier. Considered as the French succession in rallying, the pair stayed only one season in JWRC before climbing to the WRC championship.
Citroën (2009–2011)
In 2009, Ingrassia entered the Citroën Junior Team and took a maiden podium at the Acropolis Rally. In 2010, he and Ogier scored their maiden victory in Portugal. From Rally Finland, they joined the Citroën Total World Rally Team, official team of the French manufacturer, for the last gravel rounds of the 2010 season. They took their second victory of the year in Japan. For the 2011 season, Ingrassia and Ogier joined the main Citroën team. They took the same number of wins than their team-mates Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena, despite team orders clearly given in favor of Loeb on the last five rounds of the season. Citroën decided to stop their association with the young crew at the end of the season.
Successes and titles with Volkswagen (2012–2016)
Ingrassia and Ogier joined Volkswagen Motorsport with a first contract covering three seasons from 2012 to 2014. Having to choose between Ford and Volkswagen, they decided to take up the challenge proposed by the German manufacturer which consisted in missing the 2012 WRC championship to develop the brand new Polo R WRC. Their 2012 season was particularly busy as they competed in almost every world championship rally at the wheel of a Skoda Fabia S2000, while developing the Polo R WRC. After a podium during the opening round of the 2013 season, Ingrassia and Ogier won Rally Sweden, a major feat given the Scandinavian’s domination on home soil. They took a total of 9 victories, won 111 special stages and scored 290 points, a record in the WRC. Their maiden World Champions title was confirmed on the first stage of the 2013 Rallye de France-Alsace, while Volkswagen took the manufacturers’ title on the following round, in Spain. In 2014, the reigning World Champions started their title defense winning the Rallye Monte-Carlo. They already added their names on the winners’ list of this prestigious rally while it was part of the IRC calendar in 2009, but this was the first time that they won it in the WRC category. As they also took victories in Mexico, Portugal, Italy, Poland, Australia, Spain and Wales, Ingrassia and Ogier clinched their second title on the penultimate round of the season. Ingrassia became the first French codriver with two WRC titles. Ingrassia and Ogier defended their championship in 2015, winning eight rallies and nine Power Stages, despite new rules that force the championship leaders to open the road for the first two legs of each rally. Despite the running order regulation didn't change in 2016, Julien Ingrassia and Sébastien Ogier went on to win a fourth world champion title with six more WRC wins. Volkswagen also secured the Manufacturer title before surprisingly announcing its retirement from WRC before the last round of the season.
A new chapter with M-Sport
On 12 December 2016, it was announced that Ogier and Ingrassia would be driving the new Ford Fiesta WRC for M-Sport during the 2017 season. They started this new partnership with a win on Rally Monte Carlo and then maintained the leadership in the following months, with another victory in Portugal and a total of nine podium finishes. Facing Thierry Neuville and Ott Tänak as their main rivals, they clinched their fifth world champions title at the Wales Rally GB, with one round to go in the championship.
