日: 2025年11月29日

They beat their Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT team-mates Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin to the crown by four points after another epic WRC season, as Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe, the outgoing world champions, celebrated their first victory of the season for Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team following a dramatic title showdown in the Middle East.

Ogier draws level with Sébastien Loeb on nine titles with Landais claiming his first Co-Drivers’ crown. Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT clinched the FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers* on last month’s Central European Rally.

How the FIA WRC title battled unfolded in Saudi Arabia
Ogier started the three-stage final day just one position ahead of Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT 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 title deal for Ogier and co-driver Landais, who joined forces with 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,” 41-year-old 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.

There were wins in FIA WRC2 and FIA WRC3 for Gus Greensmith/Jonas Andersson (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) and Matteo Fontana/Alessandro Arnaboldi (Ford Fiesta Rally3) respectively.

Nikolai Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) secured the FIA WRC Challenger title* by taking the category victory, while first place in the FIA WRC Masters’ Cup went to Nasser Khalifa Al-Attiyah/Ziad Chehab (Ford Fiesta Rally2). Matteo Fontana/Alessandro Arnaboldi took the FIA WRC3 honours in their Ford Fiesta Rally3. Click HERE for all results.

FIA Deputy President for Sport Malcolm Wilson, said “The organisers of Rally Saudi Arabia have done a remarkable job. As with any new event, it takes time to build and refine a first edition, but the potential and scope of this rally is huge. I am sure everyone involved has learned a great deal, and the foundations are firmly in place for this event to continue to grow well into the future. 

Over 700 volunteers have come together to make this event happen, and I would like to extend my personal thanks to them all. The effort, dedication and commitment shown by everyone involved has been evident throughout.

This year we have seen three new events join the FIA World Rally Championship, and each one has been a clear success. Their introduction shows how rallying is continuing to grow in popularity, connecting with new fans in regions where interest in the sport is accelerating.”

Tashkent next for Ogier, Landais and Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Ogier, Landais and Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT will be presented with their FIA World Rally Championship-winning trophies at the FIA Awards ceremony in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on 12 December. The FIA Awards will be broadcast across the FIA’s YouTube and social media platforms from 13:00 EST / 18:00 GMT / 19:00 CET.

Meanwhile, the 2026 FIA World Rally Championship season will be contested over 14 rounds with Rallye Monte-Carlo hosting the opening event from 22-25 January 22-25.

*Subject to final confirmation

World Rally Championship

WRCWRCSEASON 2025SportRallies1SportWorld Rally ChampionshipRalliesWRCSEASON 2025WRC00Saturday, November 29, 2025 – 11:46amSaturday, November 29, 2025 – 11:46am

Fourmaux had completed SS14 with a narrow 2.4sec cushion over Sesks and just 5.8sec in hand over Thierry Neuville after a leg in which the lead changed hands several times. But the Hyundai pilot was checked in one minute early to TC14A, the technical zone prior to overnight service, incurring a 60sec time penalty in accordance with the regulations.

The adjustment promotes Sesks into top spot ahead of Neuville and Takamoto Katsuta, with Fourmaux now 57.6sec off the front in fourth.

It capped a day of relentless drama. Fourmaux had begun the morning with a 6.0sec buffer, which was trimmed to 2.9sec across the opening loop before the afternoon erupted on the second pass of Um Al Jerem.

M-Sport Ford World Rally Team driver Sesks delivered a stunning eight-second stage win to grab the lead, only for his charge to be checked on Wadi Almatwi when a rear-left deflation forced him to nurse his Puma Rally1 to the finish on the rim, losing close to a minute.

Fourmaux also hit trouble, a front-left deflation forcing him to back off, but he kept his i20 N Rally1 rolling and initially moved back in front by the slenderest of margins before the time penalty reversed their positions.

“It’s been crazy,” Fourmaux said before his penalty was served. “Every time we lose the lead, it comes back again. There are rocks everywhere. We’re just managing the risk and carrying on.”

The drama stretched far beyond the fight between Fourmaux and Sesks. Earlier in the loop, both Sami Pajari and Ott Tänak – who had been locked the podium battle – were forced to stop and change wheels on the 30.58km Um Al Jerem.

Pajari tumbled from third to seventh, while Tänak fell from fifth to outside the top 10. Their delays opened the door for Neuville and Katsuta, both of whom overcame tyre scares of their own to climb into what is now the overnight podium behind Sesks.

But the deeper narrative remained centred on the FIA WRC title fight. Elfyn Evans’ hopes of securing a maiden championship took a major blow when he stopped on SS11 to change a flat tyre, losing more than 90sec and ending the day eighth.

His Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT team-mate Sébastien Ogier, who began the rally three points behind, had been edging into a position of relative control until a rear-right deflation in the closing kilometres of SS14 cost him fifth to Kalle Rovanperä by just 0.2sec. Even so, the Frenchman holds a provisional one-point championship lead with up to 10 final-day and Wolf Power Stage points still available.

“There was nothing we could do,” Ogier shrugged. “It’s pure lottery out there.”

Rovanperä, who ended the day with a stage win, climbed into fifth ahead of Ogier, while Pajari recovered to seventh after his earlier delay. Behind Evans, Grégoire Munster and Oliver Solberg are ninth and 10th respectively.

Gus Greensmith continues to top the FIA WRC2 order, but Nikolay Gryazin has replaced Kajetan Kajetanowicz at the top of the FIA WRC2 Challenger ranking.

Matteo Fontana and Miguel Granados hold commanding leads in FIA WRC3 and FIA WRC Masters’ respectively.

Saturday’s finale features two runs through Thabhan and a single pass over Asfan, the rally’s longest test at 33.28km. Just 65.86km now stand between the WRC and the crowning of its 2025 champion – with Sesks chasing a maiden victory out front and Ogier and Evans locked in a title battle that will be decided on the season’s final day. Click HERE for stage results and live timing.
 

World Rally Championship

WRCWRCSEASON 2025SportRallies1SportWorld Rally ChampionshipRalliesWRCSEASON 2025WRC00Friday, November 28, 2025 – 5:30pmFriday, November 28, 2025 – 5:30pm