Ogier takes seventh victory at Rally Portugal

Sébastien Ogier secured his seventh victory in the Vodafone Rally de Portugal this Sunday, while Toyota Gazoo Racing continues its undefeated start to the 2025 season by achieving five wins in five events.

A highly demanding rally

The 24-stage route tested both drivers and teams alike. Friday's schedule was particularly intense, with a total distance of 683 kilometers, including 146 competitive kilometers, which generated comments among the participants.

Ogier, with Vincent Landais as co-driver, completed the four days of competition with a final advantage of 8.7 seconds over Ott Tänak's Hyundai, who controlled much of the rally. Kalle Rovanperä finished third, 12.2 seconds behind, completing a podium with two multi-time world champions.

It was a tough battle with Ott, unfortunately not equal until the end due to his problem. Without that we wouldn't have won, because he was faster, but rallies don't just require speed, you also have to make it to the finish and that's what we did

Progressive improvement

The eight-time world champion started with difficulties, adjusting the setup of his GR Yaris. After making modifications, he improved positions during the extensive Friday session.

Meanwhile, Hyundai had the advantage with Tänak and Adrian Fourmaux exchanging the best times in the early stages. The Estonian maintained a minimal advantage over his teammate until Fourmaux had to retire due to a failure in the left front suspension. Although the Frenchman returned on Saturday, he retired again on Sunday due to engine temperature problems.

Tänak maintained a consistent pace, finishing Friday with a seven-second advantage over Ogier. On Saturday, the Hyundai driver seemed to be in control after achieving three consecutive stage victories, extending his advantage to 13.9 seconds. However, his chances of obtaining his first victory of the year were complicated by a power steering failure during stage 17, caused by a broken steering rack.

Changing finish

Ogier started Sunday with a 27.1-second advantage over Rovanperä, with a conservative approach. His Toyota teammate cut 11.1 seconds in stage 19, but it was temporary.

Tänak made a great recovery on Sunday, overtaking Rovanperä to reach second place and leading the Super Sunday classification to obtain 10 additional points.

Thierry Neuville, the current world champion, finished fourth, 38.5 seconds behind after a complicated rally with balance problems in his i20 N.

Championship status

Ogier's 63rd victory in the WRC maintains Toyota's position, which now has victories from Ogier, Rovanperä, and Elfyn Evans this season.

Evans reduced his championship lead over Rovanperä from 43 to 21 points after a difficult rally, affected by opening the road. The Welshman didn't find the ideal rhythm with his GR Yaris but secured sixth place by overtaking Sami Pajari on the final day.

Josh McErlean, a rookie in Rally1, showed a solid performance by overtaking his M-Sport Ford teammate to finish eighth, 5m12.3s behind the winner.

Oliver Solberg won in WRC2 ahead of Yohan Rossel, completing the top 10.

The championship continues with the Rally Italia Sardegna, in Olbia from June 5 to 8, with high temperatures and dirt roads as the main characteristics.

Final classification of Rally Portugal 2025