Ogier wins 2025 WRC championship in Saudi Arabia, beating Evans by four points

Sébastien Ogier won his ninth WRC world championship at the Saudi Arabia Rally, matching Sébastien Loeb's record with a campaign that included only 11 of the 14 rounds of the 2025 calendar. The Frenchman ended the season with 293 points, four more than Elfyn Evans (289) in one of the closest finishes in the championship's recent history.

Ogier needed to finish ahead of Evans in the inaugural Saudi rally to take the title. The #17 Toyota finished third in the event's overall classification, 1m03.3s behind winner Thierry Neuville (Hyundai), but two positions ahead of Evans, who finished sixth. That positional difference gave Ogier his first championship since 2021 and his third with Toyota Gazoo Racing.

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Road cleaning and tires complicate the battle

The Saudi Arabia Rally presented an unusual combination of sandy dunes and rocky mountain roads that generated a more severe road cleaning effect than usual. The first cars out in each stage faced significantly more difficult conditions, directly affecting the title contenders.

Evans arrived at the event with a three-point lead over Ogier, but on Thursday he lost 12.8s due to excessive caution in SS2 and a navigation error in SS4. On Friday his campaign suffered the definitive blow: a puncture in SS11 (Um Al Jerem) forced him to stop for a complete tire change, losing 1m38s and dropping from eighth to tenth overall.

Ogier also faced problems. On Friday in SS14 (Wadi Almatwi) he lost tire pressure and conceded 23.8s, but limited the damage better than Evans. That difference in crisis management proved decisive: Ogier entered the final Saturday in sixth position, 0.2s behind Kalle Rovanperä but two places ahead of Evans.

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Power Stage confirms Ogier's title

The final 65.86 kilometers on Saturday included three regular stages plus the Power Stage with extra points at stake. Evans attacked desperately in the Power Stage, achieving the best time by 7.2s over any rival, but Ogier managed his positional advantage and maintained third place in the Super Saturday classification by just 0.8s.

The final math: Ogier scored 25 points for his third place in the rally plus five additional points for third in the Power Stage, totaling 30 points. Evans earned 12 for sixth place plus five from the Power Stage (17 points total). That 13-point difference in Saudi Arabia gave Ogier the final four-point margin in the championship.

Rovanperä, who arrived with a mathematical possibility 24 points behind the lead, suffered another puncture in SS16 that left him seventh and eliminated his chances for a third consecutive title. The Finn finished third in the championship with 256 points before his departure to circuit racing in 2026.

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Neuville achieves first victory of the year in Saudi Arabia

The Saudi Arabia Rally had its own drama apart from the championship. Mārtiņš Sesks (M-Sport Ford) led much of the event in his return to the WRC, winning two stages on Thursday, but suffered a double puncture and technical problem in SS16 that caused his retirement when he was running second.

Adrien Fourmaux (Hyundai) lost Friday's lead by arriving one minute early at a time control, receiving a 60-second penalty that relegated him from first to fourth. Saturday's chaos promoted him to second place overall, 54.7s behind Neuville, who achieved his first victory of the year and the second for Hyundai in the entire 2025 season. The other 12 rounds were won by different Toyota drivers.

Sami Pajari completed his first full season in Rally1 with fourth place after recovering from a Friday puncture that cost him two minutes. Takamoto Katsuta dropped from third to fifth after rolling in SS16 while trying to defend the podium from Fourmaux.

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Toyota wins both championships with three drivers on the podium

Ogier's title confirms the effectiveness of Toyota's partial program: the Frenchman competed in 11 of 14 rallies (absent in Kenya, Estonia and Paraguay) and still accumulated six victories and 10 podiums. His season included wins in Monte Carlo, Portugal, Italy, Paraguay, Chile and Japan.

Evans led the championship for much of the year with remarkable consistency: he finished in the top six in all 14 rounds, achieving two victories (Sweden and Kenya) and eight total podiums. His consistency nearly gave him the title, but tire management in Saudi Arabia made the difference.

Toyota Gazoo Racing won the manufacturers' championship in October and now adds the drivers' title with Ogier. It's the tenth drivers' championship won with a Toyota, equaling Lancia's record. For Vincent Landais, Ogier's co-driver, it's his first world title after joining the team in 2023.

The 2025 championship closes with Ogier equaling Loeb with nine crowns, but with the distinction of having achieved it with three different manufacturers (Volkswagen, M-Sport Ford and Toyota). Loeb won his nine titles exclusively with Citroën between 2004 and 2012.

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Final Classification 2025 Saudi Arabia Rally

POS	DRIVER/CO-DRIVER	TEAM	DIFF 1st	DIFF PREV
1	Thierry NEUVILLE / Martijn WYDAEGHE	HYUNDAI SHELL MOBIS WORLD RALLY TEAM i20 N Rally1	-	-
2	Adrien FOURMAUX / Alexandre CORIA	HYUNDAI SHELL MOBIS WORLD RALLY TEAM i20 N Rally1	+ 54.7	+ 54.7
3	Sébastien OGIER / Vincent LANDAIS	TOYOTA GAZOO RACING WRT GR Yaris Rally1	+ 1:03.3	+ 08.6
4	Sami PAJARI / Marko SALMINEN	TOYOTA GAZOO RACING WRT2 GR Yaris Rally1	+ 1:51.7	+ 48.4
5	Takamoto KATSUTA / Aaron JOHNSTON	TOYOTA GAZOO RACING WRT GR Yaris Rally1	+ 1:59.9	+ 08.2
6	Elfyn EVANS / Scott MARTIN	TOYOTA GAZOO RACING WRT GR Yaris Rally1	+ 3:43.9	+ 1:44.0
7	Kalle ROVANPERÄ / Jonne HALTTUNEN	TOYOTA GAZOO RACING WRT GR Yaris Rally1	+ 5:31.5	+ 1:47.6
8	Grégoire MUNSTER / Louis LOUKA	M-SPORT FORD WORLD RALLY TEAM Puma Rally1	+ 7:07.2	+ 1:35.7
9	Joshua MCERLEAN / Eoin TREACY	M-SPORT FORD WORLD RALLY TEAM Puma Rally1	+ 8:30.5	+ 1:23.3
11	Ott TÄNAK / Martin JÄRVEOJA	HYUNDAI SHELL MOBIS WORLD RALLY TEAM i20 N Rally1	+ 11:04.0	+ 1:03.4
15	Nasser AL-ATTIYA / Cándido CARRERA	M-SPORT FORD WORLD RALLY TEAM Puma Rally1	+ 15:16.2	+ 47.0

WRC World Drivers' Championship 2025 - Final Classification

Pos	Driver	Co-driver	Team	Points	Wins	Podiums	Rallies	Best Pos	Worst Pos	Average	Delta Leader
1	Sébastien OGIER	Vincent LANDAIS	TOYOTA GAZOO RACING WRT	293	6	10	11	1	29	4.1	Leader
2	Elfyn EVANS	Scott MARTIN	TOYOTA GAZOO RACING WRT	289	2	8	14	1	6	3.2	-4
3	Kalle ROVANPERÄ	Jonne HALTTUNEN	TOYOTA GAZOO RACING WRT	256	3	5	13	1	27	5.6	-37
4	Ott TÄNAK	Martin JÄRVEOJA	HYUNDAI SHELL MOBIS WORLD RALLY TEAM	216	1	6	14	1	34	6.4	-77
5	Thierry NEUVILLE	Martijn WYDAEGHE	HYUNDAI SHELL MOBIS WORLD RALLY TEAM	194	1	5	12	1	19	5.3	-99
6	Takamoto KATSUTA	Aaron JOHNSTON	TOYOTA GAZOO RACING WRT	122	0	2	11	2	30	8.8	-171
7	Adrien FOURMAUX	Alexandre CORIA	HYUNDAI SHELL MOBIS WORLD RALLY TEAM	115	0	4	10	2	40	10.2	-178
8	Sami PAJARI	Marko SALMINEN	TOYOTA GAZOO RACING WRT2	107	0	1	12	3	46	8.9	-186
10	Grégoire MUNSTER	Louis LOUKA	M-SPORT FORD WORLD RALLY TEAM	40	0	0	12	5	39	14.3	-253
11	Joshua MCERLEAN	Eoin TREACY	M-SPORT FORD WORLD RALLY TEAM	28	0	0	12	7	46	17.9	-265

WRC Teams Championship 2025 - WRC

Pos	Constructor	Points	Wins	Podiums
1	TOYOTA GAZOO RACING WRT	735	11	14
2	HYUNDAI SHELL MOBIS WORLD RALLY TEAM	511	3	13
3	M-SPORT FORD WORLD RALLY TEAM	205	0	0
4	TOYOTA GAZOO RACING WRT2	158	0	4