ALTAS ROTAÇÕES - Ogier crowned nine-time WRC champion as Neuville wins Saudi Arabia finale

Saturday, 29 November 2025 17:08

Ogier crowned nine-time WRC champion as Neuville wins Saudi Arabia finale

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Ogier crowned nine-time WRC champion as Neuville wins Saudi Arabia finale

Frenchman equals Sébastien Loeb's all-time record as co-driver Landais secures first world title

Sébastien Ogier clinched a ninth FIA World Rally Championship title on Saturday afternoon* as Thierry Neuville won a bruising Rally Saudi Arabia to close a dramatic 2025 season.

Ogier started the three-stage final day just one position ahead of Toyota Gazoo Racing team-mate Elfyn Evans and holding a provisional two-point advantage, but a decisive charge on the penultimate Asfan stage - where he climbed from sixth to third overall - put the title firmly in his grasp. A measured run through the Wolf Power Stage then sealed the championship, drawing the 41-year-old level with compatriot Sébastien Loeb's all-time record.

The triumph also delivered a maiden world title for co-driver Vincent Landais, who joined Ogier in late 2022.

Ogier's surge on Asfan came as overnight leader Mārtiņš Sesks and Kalle Rovanperä both stopped to change wheels, while Takamoto Katsuta rolled his GR Yaris Rally1. Evans also climbed the order, but the gap between their final positions meant the Welshman was forced to settle for being championship runner-up for a fifth time, falling short by four points in one of the closest finishes in recent memory.

Competing on a part-time basis, Ogier and Landais' 2025 campaign has been remarkable. Despite missing three rallies, they claimed wins on more than half their starts and finished the year with more stage victories than any other pairing.

"What a season, that's for sure," Ogier said. "What a fight with Elfyn and Scott, honestly. There is only a great champion when you have a great opponent, and they've been super strong, pushing us to the limit up to the very last stage of the year. Well done to those guys, anyway, and to the whole Toyota Gazoo Racing team. It's been such a successful season. Proud and very happy to be part of this family."

Neuville wrapped up the rally victory - his first of the season - by 54.7sec after moving past Sesks on Saturday's opener. Persistent damper trouble made the closing kilometres tense, but the Belgian kept his i20 N Rally1 clear of the chaos behind him. Adrien Fourmaux completed a Hyundai 1-2, though the Frenchman was left to rue what could have been a maiden WRC win after a one-minute time penalty for an early check-in dropped him out of the lead on Friday evening.

"It has been a super tough season, but to finish with an unexpected victory is obviously a great feeling," Neuville said. "Next season arrives fast. There's a lot of work left, so we have a lot of work in front of us over the next weeks to be better prepared for next year. It's a tough challenge, but we will try to keep fighting. Hopefully we get all the support we need for a better year next year."

Sami Pajari recovered strongly from his Friday wheel change to finish fourth, 8.2sec ahead of Katsuta's battered Toyota, as Evans and Rovanperä placed sixth and seventh in their similar GR Yaris Rally1 cars.

M-Sport Ford sensation Sesks remained one of the standout stories of the rally. He and co-driver Renars Francis won five stages and led heading into the final day before their double puncture on Asfan cost almost eight minutes. They retired before the final stage, promoting Puma Rally1 team-mates Grégoire Munster and Josh McErlean to eighth and ninth while Oliver Solberg completed the top 10.