Sebastien Ogier produced arguably the best season of his WRC career to date to equal Sebastien Loeb as a nine-time world champion, and assert himself for many as the greatest rally driver of all time.
The feat is even more impressive considering Ogier and co-driver Vincent Landais contested only 11 of the 14 rounds and were up against Elfyn Evans, Kalle Rovanpera, Ott Tanak and 2024 champion Thierry Neuville, all running full-season programmes. It meant a perfect campaign would be required to claim a title that Ogier had no intention of targeting at the start of the year.
But the performances and numbers that Ogier, now 42, produced were simply phenomenal and showed he’s still at the top of his game. The Frenchman won six rallies (Monte Carlo, Portugal, Sardinia, Paraguay, Chile and Japan), three more than any of his rivals. Ogier also topped the stage wins tally with 60.
In the 11 events he contested, Ogier finished on the podium 10 times, with his only costly ‘mistake’ being a crash caused by a puncture while fighting for the lead at the Central European Rally. Such an incredible run meant Ogier ended the year scoring an average 26.6 points per round, six more than title runner-up and team-mate Evans.
It certainly wasn’t an easy season. Ogier came under pressure from Evans, who led the championship most of the way, and Hyundai driver Tanak, who also pushed him to the limit in duels in Portugal and Sardinia. But Ogier was always able to find an edge in these battles and maximised his points tally, taking perfect 35-point wins in Chile and Japan, the latter including a Power Stage win by 0.09s over Evans.
In the crunch title decider in Saudi Arabia, Evans, who held a three-point lead into the event, couldn’t match Ogier, allowing his team-mate to finish third, which was enough to seal the title by four points.
“What a season that is for sure,” reflected Ogier. “What a fight with Elfyn and Scott Martin. There are only great champions when you have great opponents. They pushed us to the limit right until the final stage of the year.”
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