WRC 2025 result after Round 11: Rally Chile

Toyota Gazoo Racing continued its FIA World Rally Championship campaign with another amazing one-two finish in South America, which in turn crowned Toyota the strongest manufacturer in WRC history. How did this WRC 2025 result in Rally Chile play out? Read on as we review each day’s activities.

WRC 2025 result: Rally Chile

WRC regulations define Paraguay and Chile as linked rallies. This meant that transmission components such as gearboxes and differentials had to remain sealed and used across both events. The five GR Yaris Rally1 cars that saw competition a fortnight earlier in Rally del Paraguay remained in Encarnacíon and were rebuilt and prepared before being transported some 1,500 miles by road to the new base in Concepción, Chile, on the other side of the Andes mountains.

Compared to Paraguay, Chile provided more familiar territory for the team. It was the WRC’s fourth visit to the country and the route was identical to that of last year’s rally. The event took place in the forests of the Bio Bío region overlooking the Pacific Ocean, where the stages were technical but largely fast with a mix of smooth and abrasive gravel. Toyota entered this eleventh round with a lead of 100 points in the manufacturers’ championship and three drivers/co-drivers topping their respective title leaderboards, separated by just nine points.

Day 1

Heavy rain in the lead-up to the event and low overnight temperatures led to damp, low-grip conditions on the gravel roads of the morning’s opening loop. With the usual disadvantage of running first on the road reduced by the conditions, championship leader Elfyn Evans enjoyed a strong start. He won stage three and ended the morning loop with a narrow 0.5 second lead. Meanwhile, team-mate Kalle Rovanperä was fastest on the first two stages but lost just over a minute on the third after running wide and damaging a tyre on a bank.

Making his 200th WRC start, Sébastien Ogier finished fourth but didn’t feel entirely comfortable with his initial setup. However, that experience did mean that he identified what needed to be improved during the mid-day service. Changes also took place in the weather for the repeat loop, where the stages dried out. This meant that Evans returned to cleaning a line through the loose gravel for others to follow, which in turn saw his position slide from first to fifth. Ogier also lost time in the first two afternoon stages but produced a stunning stage win in the last test to climb up to third overall.

After a promising fourth-fastest time in the morning’s first stage, Sami Pajari made the most of his road position to secure his first WRC stage win outside of his native Finland. He ended the day in fourth overall, while Takamoto Katsuta rounded out the top six, and Kalle Rovanperä finished eighth after conditions restricted his fightback in the afternoon.

WRC 2025 result: Day 2

Like the day before, conditions made for a day of two halves, with heavy rain creating a muddy and slippery surface for the morning loop. Evans excelled here, in scenes reminiscent of those historically experienced in rallies in his native Wales. He stormed from fifth overnight to the front of the field with the strongest pace of the frontrunners, turning a 13.1 second deficit into a 5.6 second lead in three stages. Ogier was more cautious in the wettest conditions of the opening stage but still worked his way up from third to second by the end of the morning, and Rovanperä continued his recovery from the previous day’s incident by climbing from eighth to sixth.

For the afternoon’s repeat loop, the stages had dried out considerably and the roads became more abrasive. This momentum swung in Ogier’s favour as he claimed a hat-trick of stage wins and edged ahead of Evans after the second test. The Welshman was still second fastest in all three stages and the quickest of all across the day. Unfortunately, however, Rovanperä had to run first on the road and therefore suffered more with road cleaning and doubled the gap between himself and team-mate Pajari in fifth. Katsuta ended the day strongly to make it five Toyotas in the top seven.

Day 3

Just 6.3 seconds separated Ogier and Evans going into the final day, and they split the opening two stage wins. This friendly rivalry continued throughout the day until Ogier (below) moved clear with a rapid run through the penultimate stage. He then made a committed push in the rally-ending Power Stage and seized the crucial points needed to take the overall lead in both the rally and drivers’ championship. It was an appropriate finish for Ogier’s landmark 200th WRC event, among which he has claimed victory a remarkable 66 times. For Toyota, Ogier’s win in Chile represented our 103rd WRC victory. This is the most achieved by any manufacturer in the history of the series.

Finishing closely behind Ogier, Evans and co-driver Scott Martin took third in the final stage and second on Super Sunday. The pair now sit just two points behind championship leader Ogier, but this conclusion also set another achievement for Toyota – the setting of a record-equalling number of one-two finishes. Toyota has now increased its lead in the manufacturers’ championship to 125 points.

Outside of the top two positions in Rally Chile, Rovanperä remains firmly in title contention, 21 points from the lead. Pajari produced one of the strongest performances of his first full season at Rally1 level, and Katsuta improved his performance on the final day to make it five Toyotas in the top seven.

WRC 2025 result in Round 11: Rally Chile

WRC 2025 championship standings: drivers and co-drivers

WRC 2025 championship standings: manufacturers

WRC 2025: Where next?

After seven consecutive events on gravel, the next two rounds return to more predictable asphalt surfaces. These begin with the Central European Rally – the twelfth round of the WRC 2025 calendar. The event takes place on 16-19 October and is a cross-border challenge on smooth but demanding roads in Germany, the Czech Republic and Austria.

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