WRC 2025 result after Round 14: Rally Saudi Arabia

Toyota Gazoo Racing rally driver Sébastien Ogier won a record-equalling ninth World Rally Championship title after he and co-driver Vincent Landais prevailed in a dramatic final-day decider on the final WRC 2025 round. How did this result in the all-new Rally Saudi Arabia play out? Read on as we review each day’s activities.

WRC 2025 result: Rally Saudi Arabia

Coming into this final round of 2025, Toyota had already accumulated 12 wins – equalling the existing record for a single season – and secured its fifth consecutive manufacturers’ title. The team was therefore fired-up to clinch the two remaining titles: drivers’ and co-drivers’ championships.

Three of Toyota’s five Rally1 crews were in with a shot of winning these crowns. Points leaders Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin (above) were the favourites, having shown incredible consistency throughout the 2025 campaign. The British pair had taken two wins, six other podium positions, and never finished any lower than sixth. Just three points behind were Sébastien Ogier and Vincent Landais, who have won six rallies and been on the podium a further three times within the ten rounds they started this year. Ogier himself was in with a chance of achieving a record-equalling ninth world championship.

In mathematical contention was two-time world champion Kalle Rovanperä and co-driver Jonne Halttunen (above). After three wins and two further podiums this season the pair needed to close a deficit of 24 points. Doing so would help Rovanperä draw a satisfying conclusion to his WRC career before making the switch to single-seater racing in 2026.

As well as the championship hotting up for this all-new final round in Saudi Arabia, the weather was, too. In anticipation of this, all five GR Yaris Rally1 entries were decked-out in the popular light reflecting silver livery previously used for the European summer rallies.

Day 1

Day one was actually preceded by three days of reconnaissance, during which the driver and co-driver pairings were allowed to discover these all-new stages for the first time and make their pacenotes. A pre-event shakedown then gave the competitors an opportunity to sample these Saudi routes at speed. Although these practice blasts were not rewarded with points, it was encouraging to see that Toyota crews took the three fastest times.

Finally, the short, spectator-friendly super special in the host city of Jeddah opened the competitive action. Evans and Ogier competed side-by-side on this nighttime asphalt stage, with the Frenchman just edging ahead of his Welsh teammate to set the second fastest time. Evans finshed less than one second behind to secure fifth, while Rovanperä and Sami Pajari completed the top seven. Takamoto Katsuta concluded the stage in ninth place.

Day 2

Day two took the crews northwards into mountainous and desert terrain for two loops of three stages, split by a mid-day service. The loose, sandy surfaces of these stages put the faster, early starters at a disadvantage because each successive car created a cleaner line for those behind to follow. This reversed the previous day’s order somewhat, which enabled talented Rally1 newbie Pajari (below), who started the day in eighth position on the road, to capitalise on this cleaner route.

The young Finn held third all morning and then edged into second place in the afternoon’s first stage. Another flying performance on the next stage elevated him to first, only for Pajari to drop back down to second after damaging a tyre and losing around ten seconds on the abrasive gravel of the day’s final stage. The remaining four GR Yaris Rally1 drivers battled through the desert and their frontline road cleaning duties to fill places six through nine.

WRC 2025 result: Day 3

Coming into day three, Ogier was in sixth place and held a narrow advantage over Evans (below) in his pursuit of a ninth world title. However, those nearer the front of the order continued to experience the disadvantage of cleaning the road. Tyre management and puncture avoidance therefore became a key factor in conquering the day’s two loops.

Sitting second at the start of the day, rookie Pajari remained in a close fight for a maiden victory. He closed to within 4.5 seconds of the lead over the morning loop, and finished within the top four in the afternoon’s first test. But his push for the lead was curtailed due to a puncture in stage 13. This two-minute delay pitched him right back into the middle of his championship-fighting team-mates, who were also experiencing delays induced by tyre damage.

Evans was the worst hit in this respect, having lost around 100 seconds in the morning. Meanwhile at the end of the day, Ogier suffered a puncture that was slow enough to allow him to continue at a greatly reduced pace. It was enough to limit his time loss to stage winner Rovanperä and conclude the day in sixth, just 0.2 seconds behind the Finn. As a result, Ogier finished day three just one point ahead of Evans in the championship – both drivers intent on pulling out all the stops to secure the ten extra points available the following day.

The highest placed Toyota driver was now Takamoto Katsuta (above). Although he experienced an overshoot and tyre damage on stage 12, he avoided major time loss to conclude the day in third place.

Day 4

The close fight between Ogier and Evans was underlined by the 0.1 second separating each other’s performance in the final day’s opening test. But the following stage – the longest of the entire rally – proved pivotal in the Frenchman’s quest for glory. Ogier went almost eight seconds faster and found himself promoted into third overall as other drivers hit problems. At this point Evans was languishing back in seventh place.

To his credit, Evans (above) gave it his all in the rally-ending Power Stage and set the fastest time by an incredible 7.2 seconds. But Ogier managed to stay ahead in the Super Sunday classification and win that by 0.8 seconds as well as securing third place overall – his tenth podium finish from eleven starts this season, six of which were rally wins.

In topping the drivers’ championship leaderboard for 2025, Ogier equals the nine-title record of fellow Frenchman Sébastien Loeb. It is Ogier’s third title with Toyota and a memorable first for co-driver Landais. On a team level, it is the sixth time in seven years that a Toyota crew has been crowned world champions, and the fourth time in five years that the team has swept all three championships. In total, it is the tenth drivers’ title achieved at the wheel of a Toyota – a joint record with Lancia.

Finishing as championship runners-up, Evans and Martin continued their pattern of unrivalled consistency and finished the rally in sixth. Rovanperä and Halttunen finished seventh, while Pajari and co-driver Marko Salminen completed their first full season of Rally1 competition with their strongest performance to date – fourth. Finally, Katsuta and co-driver Aaron Johnston came into the final day in third but ultimately finished fifth.

WRC 2025 result in Round 14: Rally Saudi Arabia

WRC 2025 championship: drivers and co-drivers

WRC 2025 championship: manufacturers

WRC 2026: Where next?

The first round of the WRC 2026 season is the iconic Rally Monte-Carlo. Scheduled for 22-25 January, this event is something of a tyre management nightmare, requiring the teams to conjure grip from both dry asphalt and icy snow. That makes the season’s traditional launch event as exciting as it is unpredictable.

Learn more: How did last year’s WRC end for Toyota?