Ogier seals ninth WRC crown as Neuville wins Rally Saudi Arabia

Sebastien Ogier (above) secured a record-equaling ninth FIA World Rally Championship title on Saturday as Thierry Neuville won a bruising Rally Saudi Arabia to close the 2025 season.

Ogier started the three-stage final day in sixth place on the leaderboard, just one position ahead of Toyota Gazoo Racing teammate Elfyn Evans and holding a provisional two-point advantage in the championship battle. But a decisive charge on the penultimate, 20.43-mile Asfan stage saw him climb to to third overall in his GR Yaris Rally1 and put the title firmly in his grasp.

A measured run through the bonus points-paying Wolf Power Stage, the 10.18-mile Thahban 2 test, sealed the championship for Ogier, drawing the 41-year-old Frenchman level with compatriot Sebastien Loeb’s all-time WRC title record.

The result also delivered a maiden world title for co-driver Vincent Landais, who first called pace notes for Ogier in late 2022.

Ogier’s push on Asfan came as overnight leader Martin Sesks’ M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 and Kalle Rovanpera’s Toyota suffered punctures, with both drivers stopping to change wheels on the stage. Adding to the drama, Takamoto Katsuta rolled his GR Yaris Rally1 to end his podium chances.

Evans also climbed the order amid the chaos, but the gap between his and Ogier’s final positions meant the Welshman was forced to settle for being championship runner-up for a fifth time, falling short by just four points in one of the closest WRC title finishes in recent years.

Competing on only a part-time basis in 2025, Ogier and Landais’ besting of their full-season rivals has been remarkable. Despite skipping three of the season’s 14 rallies, they claimed six wins, four other podium finishes and completed 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 (co-driver) Scott (Martin), 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.”

Sebastien Ogier (right) celebrated a record-equaling ninth WRC title, while co-driver Vincent Landais notched up his first. Toyota Gazoo Racing photo

Hyundai’s Neuville wrapped up the rally victory – his first of the season after a frustrating defense of his 2024 WRC title – by 54.7s after moving past Sesks on Saturday’s opening stage, Thahban 1. Persistent damper trouble made the closing miles tense, but the Belgian kept his i20 N Rally1 between the rocks and clear of the chaos behind him.

“It has been a super tough season, but to finish with an unexpected victory is obviously a great feeling,” said Neuville. “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.”

Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville signed off on a frustrating WRC title defense with his first win of the 2025 season. Red Bull Content Pool

Adrien Fourmaux completed a Hyundai 1-2, although the Frenchman was left to rue what might have been after a one-minute time penalty for an early check-in dropped him out of the lead and ended his chances of a first WRC win on Friday evening.

Sami Pajari recovered strongly from his Friday wheel change on his GR Yaris to finish fourth, 48.4s behind Ogier and 8.2s ahead of Katsuta’s battered Toyota. Completing a quintet of Toyota Rally1 machinery, Evans and Rovanpera placed sixth and seventh overall, with the latter waving goodbye to the WRC as he pursues his open-wheel aspirations in Japan’s Super Formula series next year.

M-Sport Ford part-timer Sesks remained one of the standout stories of the rally. On only their seventh WRC start of the season, the Latvian and his co-driver, Renars Francis, won five stages and led the field heading into the final day before their double puncture on Asfan cost almost eight minutes. They retired before the final stage, promoting M-Sport full-timers Gregoire Munster and Josh McErlean to eighth and ninth.

Rising star Martins Sesks' chances of victory in his M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 were dashed by a double puncture on the penultimate stage. M-Sport photo

Newly minted WRC2 champion Oliver Solberg completed the top 10 in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, fastest by a considerable margin of the Rally2 machinery. But with the Swede not registered for points and using his start to gain experience of the Saudi Arabian terrain before moving to a full-time Toyota Rally1 seat in2026, it was Skoda Fabia RS driver Gus Greensmith taking the honors in the WRC’s second-tier category.

Greensmith wrapped up his second WRC2 victory of the season, surviving a late puncture to head home fellow Skoda drivers Nikolay Gryazin and Robert Virves.

The British driver began Saturday with a comfortable margin and tightened his grip by winning the opening Thabhan test. He looked fully in control until the tire deflation on the long Asfan stage threatened to derail his charge, but with his earlier advantage in hand he nursed his Fabia RS to the finish some 35.4s clear of Gryazin.

GR Yaris Rally2 driver Oliver Solberg was the standout among the Rally2 entries, but headed to Saudi Arabia for experience, not points. Red Bull Content Pool

That closes the books on the 2025 season, but the ’26 FIA World Rally Championship gets under way in less than two months, beginning with the often-icy asphalt of the series’ most historic event, the Monte Carlo Rally, Jan. 22-25.

WRC Rally Saudi Arabia, final positions after Saturday/Leg Three, SS17

1 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) 3h21m17.3s
2 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +54.7s
3 Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +1m03.3s
4 Sami Pajari/Marko Salminen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +1m51.7s
5 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +1m59.9s
6 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +3m43.9s
7 Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +5m31.5s
8 Gregoire Munster/Louis Louka (Ford Puma Rally1) +7m07.2s
9 Josh McErlean/Eoin Treacy (Ford Puma Rally1) +8m30.5s 
10 Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 – WRC2/non-points) +10m00.6s 

Final WRC Drivers’ Championship after 14 of 14 rounds
1 Ogier 293 points
2 Evans 289
3 Rovanpera 256
4 Tanak 216 
5 Thierry Neuville 194
6 Takamoto Katsuta 122

Final WRC Manufacturers’ Championship after 14 of 14 rounds
1 Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT 735 points   
2 Hyundai Word Rally Team 511   
3 M-Sport Ford 205
4 Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT2 158

• There’s LIVE Wolf Power Stage coverage from every FIA World Rally Championship round on the RACER Network RACER+ App. Next up, it’s action from the 2026 season-opening Monte Carlo Rally on Sunday, Jan. 26 .

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