He equaled the record of his compatriot and namesake Sébastien Loeb and became the oldest champion in this sport at the age of 41.
Ogier finished the WRC Rally in Saudi Arabia in third, while until that rally the leading Welshman Elfyn Evans finished in sixth. Evans, who was hoping to become the first British champion since Richard Burns in 2001, started the rally with a three-point lead. He took five bonus points from the final Power stage, but Ogier was second and thus out of reach. He won the championship by four points.
WORLD CHAMPIONS!!!!
Sébastien Ogier & Vincent Landais claim the 2025 title on the last stage of the season! #WRC | #RallySaudiArabia pic.twitter.com/VVo8ZqWo7j
— FIA World Rally Championship (@OfficialWRC) November 29, 2025
“Obviously it was a tough event,” said the Welshman, runner-up in the championship for the fifth time in his career. “I think we did what we could reasonably do. The flat tire on Saturday morning didn’t help but that’s the point of the game, everyone had their share of problems.”
Loeb won his nine consecutive titles between 2004 and 2012 with Citroën. Ogier won six titles in a row from 2013 to 2018, and added two more in 2020 and 2021. He won the titles with three different constructors: Volkswagen, Ford and Toyota, reports Hina.
He announced his intention to retire from rallying at the end of 2021, but continued to compete occasionally. He won his last title despite missing three of the 14 races, winning six of them. The Frenchman will turn 42 on December 17 and is now the oldest driver to win the world championship. The previous oldest was Finn Hannu Mikkola with 41 years and 183 days in 1983.
The former Belgian champion Thierry Neuville won the rally, with a 54.7 second lead over Frenchman Adrien Fourmaux. Toyota’s two-time world champion Kalle Rovanperä, who was mathematically still in contention for the title at the start of the event, finished seventh.
The Finn is now leaving rallying to start a new career in single-seater racing, with his eyes set on a possible future in Formula 1. Saudi Arabia made its debut on the world championship calendar as the first WRC race held in the Middle East since Jordan in 2011.
(Vijesti.ba)
