Category: Tin Top Racing

We came then to the final day of action and after the heavy rain which fell in Monaco turned to snow on the roads which would make up the final kilometres of this classic event. Josh and Eoin would open the road throughout the four stages with a total of 71.9km’s over them and the powerstage would feature the section known as the Col du Turini.

 

Into the first stage then, SS14 Col de Braus / La Cabanette 1 and there was a remarkable result from this one. The fastest of the Rally1 crews was Adrien and Alex but their time was only good enough for fifth fastest. The stage winner was Matteo Fontana in a Fiesta Rally3 car whilst Yohan Arnard was second fastest in their Lancia Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale, Cedric and Jasper in their Fabia Rally2 were third. In addition, Romet and Siim set the fourth best time as well piloting a Fiesta Rally2. A quite remarkable result from the crews from the lower spec cars. Oliver continued to lead the rally by over fifty seconds from Elfyn and Seb. The conditions had changed so much from the earlier crews with the snow and ice across the road to a line which developed to point which led to the result on this stage. Sadly, we lost Greg and Louis before they started the stage on the road section they had to retire.

 

Next up came SS15 La Bollène-Vésubie / Moulinet 1 and yet again Matteo was fastest from Yohan and Elfyn was third and the fastest Rally1. The leader, Oliver had a small spin at a hairpin losing him a few seconds but was still able to set the sixth best time, nineteen seconds down on the Matteo in his Fiesta Rally3. The Swede would see his lead over second placed Elfyn come down to exactly forty-two seconds.

Onwards to the penultimate stage then, SS16 Col de Braus / La Cabanette 2 and we had a return to some normality as Adrien set the fastest time from Oliver, whilst Matteo with his notional time was given the third fastest time. This was given as Pablo Sarrazin had a spin in the stage and blocked the road. Sadly, we lost Jon Armstrong in this stage as he went off the road less than a kilometre into the stage. We also lost his teammate Josh who hit the barrier on the left-hand side of the road near the end of the stage. He did complete the stage, but with heavy damage to the front left suspension he would have to pull out of the rally.

 

We came then to the final stage, SS17 La Bollène-Vésubie / Moulinet 2, the first powerstage of the year and sections which had snow on them earlier had seen some melting, leaving water and some slush as well, but in some shaded sections as the stage climbed to the top of the stage onto the Col du Turini saw snow covered roads with lines left by cars before descending to the finish which saw some wet sections after the snow. Elfyn would be fastest by 6.5 seconds from Oliver, Seb was third, Adrien fourth and Yohan in the Lancia fifth!

 

Oliver and Elliott had taken a remarkable victory, becoming the youngest driver to win this event. An interesting stat which emerged online shared my Oliver’s dad which is that it is 7,575 days since a Solberg led this championship which was following the 2005 New Zealand when Petter was leading.

Let’s take a look at the top ten, the standings from Sunday and hear from the drivers.

 

Final Classification – Rallye Monte-Carlo

1	O. Solberg	E. Edmondson	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	4:24:59.0
2	E. Evans	S. Martin	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+51.8
3	S. Ogier	V. Landais	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+2:02.2
4	A. Fourmaux	A. Coria	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	+5:59.3
5	T. Neuville	M. Wydaeghe	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	+10:29.8
6	L. Rossel	G. Mercoiret	Citroën C3	+12:58.4
7	T. Katsuta	A. Johnston	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+13:05.4
8	R. Daprà	L. Guglielmetti	Škoda Fabia RS	+15:07.9
9	A. Pelamourgues	B. Pouget	Hyundai i20 N Rally2	+18:09.4
10	E. Camilli	T. de la Haye	Škoda Fabia RS	+18:36.4

 

Super Sunday Classification – Rallye Monte-Carlo

1	Y. Rossel	1:07:55.0
2	E. Evans	+22.4
3	A. Fourmaux	+26.3
4	M. Fontana	+29.7
5	O. Solberg	+29.9

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Oliver Solberg

“To win Rallye Monte-Carlo is an incredible result and a dream come true, and probably the craziest thing I’ve done in my life. I just want to say a big thank you to the team, for their belief in making me a factory driver. It’s our second rally together and our second win. The team has been working so well to get me comfortable in the car on all surfaces and in all conditions. When the conditions were tricky, I tried to push on the snow and ice, and I think that’s where I was able to make the difference. A 1-2-3 for the team is also a fantastic start to the season, especially for the manufacturers’ championship.”

Elfyn Evans

“This is a fantastic result for the team and a huge congratulations to Oliver and Elliott on an amazing performance. Of course, it would have been nice to fight for the win, but we just didn’t have what it took to match them here this weekend. It’s definitely been the toughest Rallye Monte-Carlo of my career. There have been others that have been difficult, but I think the combination of everything made it a really challenging weekend. Even today there was no break from the trickiness, and to finish with good points on Sunday is good for us.”

Sébastien Ogier

“Honestly I’m happy to have this podium finish at the end of a very demanding rally. Of course, here at Rallye Monte-Carlo I have got used to being on the top step, but Oliver was fantastic this weekend and fully deserves his win; congratulations mate. It’s good for the championship to have someone new and fresh winning rallies, and I’m looking forward to fight with him more in the future. To lock out the top three for the team is another very positive start to the season, so I’m smiling today.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“I’m happy to reach the finish of this rally. I think most of the drivers have never seen such a difficult Rallye Monte-Carlo for the whole event. It was very difficult every day, with mixed conditions that were changing a lot and were not easy to follow and anticipate. I can’t be too happy with this rally overall, but at least we could finish and score some points. We have some things to look at to see why I was struggling sometimes, but the next rally in Sweden is totally different and I’m looking forward to it.”

Yuki Yamamoto (Driver WRC Challenge Program GEN2)

“This was probably the most difficult rally I’ve ever done. We were trying to be patient and not take unnecessary risks. I think it was going well in terms of gaining experience until the final day; there was full snow at the top of the Col de Turini and then on the downhill, there was a drier asphalt place where I accelerated more than necessary because there was grip, then when I braked there was black ice. I locked up and stalled the engine and couldn’t stop the car. That was a disappointing finish, but I think there are positives to take away and good progress compared to this event last year.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Adrien Fourmaux

“Considering where we were on Friday with our electrical issues, I am happy to be finishing fourth overall. With the time gained on each car, I have only one regret, which is the eight tenths against Seb. I’m sure I could have gained eight tenths! The road was evolving so much, which was exactly the same last year. We scored 17 points, which is just one less than Ogier, so that is quite positive. We need to work on our tarmac performance, but I’m confident that on the other surfaces we can continue to improve our results. We saw in Japan last year that we made a big step forward with the car, and I was satisfied until it rained – we were third and doing some good times.”

Thierry Neuville

“For me personally it was the most difficult Rallye Monte-Carlo I have faced; in terms of conditions, we have seen a bit of everything. Across all four days it was icy, but not having the feeling in the car made it so much more difficult than what it could have been. I lost control many times. It wasn’t an enjoyable weekend, and obviously ended in disappointment for us, although we made some improvements over the four days. If the feeling is there and I can get the car working better with the tyres, then we can get much closer than we are at the moment.”

Hayden Paddon

“I wouldn’t classify this weekend as a sterling job, but we got to the finish and that was our main objective. I knew it was going to be a big learning process, but the conditions made that a lot harder than what it should have been. It was tough – especially in terms of the conditions, which were 100% tougher than I expected. However, we had some good split times, sometimes we were less than a second away from our team-mates, so there’s a few positives to take away, but we needed to consistently gather more over the weekend.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Jon Armstrong

“A proper baptism of fire for our first WRC event in the Rally1 car, we were happy to show some good pace throughout the weekend but ultimately wanted to get a solid result which we didn’t manage to do on this occasion.

“The conditions were crazy; a proper challenge and we are already looking forward to a new challenge in Sweden.”

Josh McErlean

“It was a really tough Rallye Monte-Carlo for me personally, and not the result I wanted to start the season with. Monte is an event that can catch anyone out, and this weekend certainly tested me. Despite that, the support from M-Sport and the team never wavered, and there are still positives to take away. I’ll take the lessons on board, reset, and come back determined to show what we’re capable of.”

Grégoire Munster

“Even though it didn’t start well with an issue on Thursday, Friday and Saturday were good for us, with some fifth and fourth-fastest stage times. We had a few punctures, but without those I think we could have fought for a strong result. “We were climbing back up the overall standings after passing Paddon and Katsuta on Saturday, and we were hoping to gain more on Sunday. Unfortunately, we didn’t even make it to the first stage due to a mechanical issue. That’s really disappointing, because I don’t know when I will drive a Rally1 car again, so I would have liked to finish on a high. “Still, we showed some good things, and I hope we’ll get another opportunity in the future.”

Romet Jürgenson

“I think this was a really good learning rally for us. We experienced almost every possible condition Monte-Carlo can throw at you, so coming here was a good investment.

“We didn’t start especially fast, as we were trying to understand how to drive in these conditions, but as the rally went on we began to get more comfortable, and from SS12 onwards I think we showed some really good pace.

“It was unfortunate to have the issue we did, but overall, we can be very happy with the event. I’m looking forward to Sweden, where I already have more experience and we can push for a strong result.”

2026 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings 
After round 1

1	O. Solberg	30
2	E. Evans	26
3	S. Ogier	18
4	A. Fourmaux	17
5	T. Neuville	10
6	L. Rossel	8
7	T. Katsuta	6
8	Y. Rossel	6
9	R. Daprà	4
10	A. Pelamourgues	2

 

2026 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round 1

1	Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team	59
2	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	35
3	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	0
=	Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team 2	0

Summary

What a remarkable rally – the weather really delivered the most amazing conditions which had not been seen for many years. There was snow on every single stage apart from the incredibly wet Monaco stage which saw the rain get heavier and heavier. A true classic in that respect.

 

What about the crews then? Well, it was an amazing drive from Oliver and Elliott to take their first Rallye Monte-Carlo win. Once they took the lead on Thursday evening’s second stage by 31 seconds, they were never headed again. There were a few errors on each day but not enough to cause them to lose the lead. It was a well-deserved victory, and they now lead the world championship.

 

For Elfyn and Scott, they faced the most tricky conditions and showed remarkable pace as well to gap their champion teammates to a second-place finish. Taking a number of stage wins including the powerstage shows that this season has started in a great way just like last year.

 

Finally for Seb and Vincent another podium finish in this rally which they have had so much success was incredibly good result. What was surprising was the fact that Seb had no confidence on the snow-covered sections. There were some flashes of pace on the mixed condition stages with the slush and ice.

 

The next round will be Rally Sweden over the dates of the 12 to 15 February.

Coming into the second full day of action and the third day of the rally, Oliver Solberg and his co-driver Elliott Edmondson led the event from Elfyn and Scott by a minute and eight seconds, whilst Seb and Vincent were a further six and a half seconds behind and holding third.

Overnight the snow had fallen and the stages plus the landscape around them were covered in a blanket of snow and the snow had frozen on the top of the road, leaving a nice hard base for the studded tyres to bite into. Josh and Eoin would open the road throughout the day with the overnight leaders, Oliver and Elliott would be the last Rally1 crew to complete each stage, giving them the best conditions.

Into the action then with SS10 La Bréole / Bellaffaire 1 and it was a proper long stage to begin the day’s action. The stage was fully covered in snow and would be super tricky. Seb would take the stage win from Elfyn by three and a half seconds and Takamoto was third. Oliver took it easy after not getting his studded tyres into the right condition to work and gave away twenty and a half seconds to his teammates.

Next up was SS11 Vaumeilh / Claret 2 and in this stage there were some sections of the stage which had snow and some where there was ice and some slush as well. It was a really tricky stage which saw Oliver set the pace from one Rally2 crew and one Rally3 crew, those being Yohan in his Lancia Ypsilon and Matteo in his Ford Fiesta. Elfyn set the fourth best time and with Seb only eighth fastest the gap to Elfyn grew a little.

Onto the penultimate stage then, SS12 La Bréole / Bellaffaire 2 and the snow was melting due to the temperature rising just enough to turn into slush making the conditions very tricky. Seb beat the time set by Adrien but there was drama for a number of drivers. Greg had a spin at the top of the col and Sami went off the road and whilst attempting to get back on the stage he hit a tree. Hayden went off the road and had some help regaining the road, losing over four minutes. Elfyn beat Seb’s time, going sixteen seconds faster. Coming through the stage came Oliver and he had a high pace but as he came to the end of the stage he lost control spinning off. He got back to the road and completed the stage and remarkably won the stage by 1.9 seconds.

The final stage then of the day was held in Monaco using part of the racetrack, SS13, Monaco Circuit. Adrien set the pace from Takamoto whilst Thierry was third. The stage was incredibly wet and with the rain getting increasingly heavier. Oliver would only set the eleventh best time ten seconds slower than Adrien’s best fastest time.

 

Let’s take a look at the top ten and hear from the drivers.

 

Classification after Day Three

1	O. Solberg	E. Edmondson	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	3:16:34.1
2	E. Evans	S. Martin	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+59.3
3	S. Ogier	V. Landais	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+1:25.3
4	A. Fourmaux	A. Coria	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	+6:02.9
5	T. Neuville	M. Wydaeghe	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	+7:23.0
6	J. Armstrong	S. Byrne	Ford Puma Rally1	+10:03.9
7	L. Rossel	G. Mercoiret	Citroën C3	+10:57.7
8	G. Munster	L. Louka	Ford Puma Rally1	+11:29.3
9	T. Katsuta	A. Johnston	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+11:36.9
10	R. Daprà	L. Guglielmetti	Škoda Fabia RS	+12:25.6

 

 

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Oliver Solberg

“It’s been another solid day. I think we had all the action and conditions possible again. Tried to make it a day of survival, but just touched the slush in SS12 and ended up in the ditch and somehow got it up into the field and back out again. I don’t know how I did it and went on to still win the stage, but you need a bit of luck sometimes. The super special was very cool but with all the rain I just backed off. It’s incredible to still be leading by around a minute, but there’s still one day to go and I’m sure it will be another hard day.”

Elfyn Evans

“It’s been very tough again today. The first stage this morning was very icy with very low grip the whole way through, and the conditions in the second one were very inconsistent. The ice was melting in places come the afternoon, creating very slushy conditions, and it was difficult to control the car. The heavy rain also made the Monaco super special not as straightforward as it might have been, so I was happy to get through it. We’re still expecting more difficult conditions tomorrow, so the rally won’t be over until it’s over.”

Sébastien Ogier

“Today has been yet another challenging day, like everyone has been on this rally. A lot of snow this morning, a lot of wet snow this afternoon, which was close to undriveable from my perspective, and then heavy rain tonight in Monaco. I’m just happy to finish the day still with a podium position, and a lockout for the team for the moment. Now the plan is to try and secure this result tomorrow.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“We’ve had more very difficult conditions today, but I felt much better with the car. It was very icy in the morning and then it was melting and becoming slushy in the afternoon. Then a huge amount of rain in Monaco for the super special. That wasn’t easy, but it was amazing to see so many people watching us and it was really cool for me to drive here. We have one more day to go and we’ll try our best to keep catching up places; that’s our target.”

Sami Pajari

“It has not been the start to the season we wanted. From the first day already, it went in a difficult way, and then we just wanted to get all the experience possible for the future. Unfortunately, we made a mistake in SS10 and we got caught on the snowbank. The conditions were tricky and not many drivers got through that stage without issues, but I’m sorry for the team and the fans. Now we just need to focus on what we need to improve and keep our heads up and I’m sure we will do much better in Sweden.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Adrien Fourmaux

“Today has been quite an amazing day. More very challenging stages, but the snow this morning was beautiful and really nice to drive. When it was full snow, it was fun, but as soon as you get the slush, ruts, lines and so on, it becomes very tricky. I did my best to get some good confidence in the car; it’s still not really there yet, and we are struggling a little bit, but that’s part of the game in rallying. I wanted to do a good time in Monaco, and we’ve set the fastest, so I can be pleased at least we’ve got one stage win!”

Thierry Neuville

“It was good to end the day in Monaco – huge congratulations to the organisers on the super special stage. We need to do more of this, bringing rallying to the people. It’s a huge success tonight with full crowds, despite the heavy rain! It’s been a great show. I’m happy today is over and I’m looking forward to tomorrow. Our focus will be on getting safely through the stages. I think it will be potentially the toughest day so far, as there is no margin for error on those roads, so I think there is still a lot that could happen. This rally is far from over.”

Hayden Paddon

“The whole rally has been an adventure, and we once again had tricky conditions today and really struggled. I tried a different driving technique on the first pass, which didn’t work, and then on the on SS12 the conditions were pretty treacherous, and a number of things caught us out. At least we end the day safely in Monaco. It’s very cool to be able to drive a Rally1 car around here, and it’s great to bring the sport to the people – especially at an iconic Formula 1 street circuit with all this heritage and these spectators. You have to remind yourself how lucky you are to race on the roads of Monaco.”

 

Sunday

The final day will see the crews tackle almost 72km’s over four stages. Can Oliver keep the lead or will there be a change?

The action got underway with three stages on Thursday evening. Seb and Vincent would open the road as the reigning world champions.

Thursday’s evening stages

First up then was SS1 Toudon / Saint-Antonin and Elfyn was setting the pace from new full-time teammate Oliver who was 5.6 seconds behind and Seb a further 6.4 further back. Best of the Hyundai drivers was Adrien who was almost twenty seconds behind Elfyn and in fourth, whilst Jon making his debut in the Puma was in sixth.

Into SS2 Esclangon / Seyne-les-Alpes and this stage had it all to be honest; Snow and ice over a large part of the stage near the top as the road climbed to the top of the col. Seb was really finding it hard to keep his pace high, particularly on the snowy sections in the tight corners. Making it even more tricky was the fact it was still snowing a little as well. Meanwhile behind him Elfyn was able to maintain a higher pace using higher gears and was seriously quick over the champion setting a pace of almost forty seconds faster and ten positions between them. However, there was one driver who even faster and that was Oliver who was a full thirty-one seconds faster than Elfyn, with Jon third fastest. The top three were now Oliver, Elfyn and Jon. Seb lost two positions, falling to fifth overall and a full minute and a quarter away from the new leader.

The final stage then of this first evening of action with SS3 Vaumeilh / Claret 1 and this was a different kind of challenge compared to the first stages. As the first crews made their way through the fog was not too bad, but it was clear that it was getting worse as Seb was fastest from Oliver by seven seconds, yet Elfyn who was only the second car on the road was over twenty-five seconds slower. Jon was one of the drivers who had the worst of the conditions as he went off the road. He would be one of the drivers given a notional time as the stage was red flagged. The onboard cameras would reveal how bad it was as the road was pretty much impossible to see.

Let’s hear from the crews then after these three stages.

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Oliver Solberg

“It’s been an absolutely incredible start. The conditions have been crazy: every stage was different; every kilometre was different. Sometimes there was a bit of risk, and sometimes I tried to back off and manage. It’s been challenging but good fun. I have a good feeling in the car and everything is working really with the team. To be in this position is amazing – I never expected it and it was never the goal to come here and be leading the rally. There’s still a lot to learn and I’ll just keep doing my best.”

 

Elfyn Evans

“We had a good clean start in the first stage this afternoon. The grip was quite low, but I just tried to be as smooth as you can be with a mix of studded and slick tyres on the car, and it went fine. Conditions in SS2 were very bad, with no grip at all, so that wasn’t easy. Then in SS3 I couldn’t even see the road in some places. Overall, we can be reasonably happy with our start but it’s also very frustrating to give away time in a situation like that when you’ve worked so hard to earn it.”

Sébastien Ogier

“It’s been a more-than-challenging start to the rally, and I’m happy to be back in service tonight. On the first stage I was maybe a bit too cautious, but it was still a decent start. The big-time loss came for us on the next stage with the slush on top of the surface, which was just undriveable for us. There was not much we could have done, and it cost us a lot of time. The last stage was also very demanding with the fog, but it looks like we managed to get through better than the others.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“I can’t be very happy with my driving and my stage times so far, but I’m very happy to get through such crazy conditions, with rain and snow and fog – a bit of everything really. The time gap is not ideal and not what I would wanted at this stage, but there is still a long way to go and we know that on this rally, anything can happen. So, I will just keep going and do my best.”

Sami Pajari

“Unfortunately, we didn’t have the start to the season that we wanted tonight. In SS2 we got caught out on an icy bridge, and the left-rear wheel hit the barrier. It’s disappointing but at least both Marko and I are OK. I’m sure that the team will be able to fix the car and we have tonight to reset and come back stronger tomorrow.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“I don’t think I have ever seen as much fog in a stage as I did on SS3 tonight – very tough conditions out there. I struggled with confidence initially; I was able to build that up a bit more throughout the run, but when you don’t have the right feeling it still doesn’t feel good. I put two wheels in the ditch on SS2 to avoid a wall, so I wanted to make it as soft as possible to avoid hitting it. We need to determine what’s going on with the tyres, I don’t understand how we can build and then lose grip so easily.”

Adrien Fourmaux

“I didn’t have a great feeling on the first stage, but we took some steps to improve that for SS2. The second stage was tricky with the snow – we had a spin but didn’t lose too much time – and then on the third stage we had the fog and the smoke from the fireworks. I had to stop in the middle of the road, and I couldn’t see anything, so I thought the hairpin was already there, but it wasn’t, and I ended up in a field. I had to drive very slowly to recover, and it was just crazy. I hope we can get some time back because of the red flag.”

Hayden Paddon

“I’m happy to get through tonight safely, they were three crazy stages for different reasons. We now need to press the reset button and make some changes to feel at one with the car. At the moment I have no feeling at all. Today was the first time I’ve driven the car in wet conditions, so there’s a lot of exploring to do, and that’s made worse when you’re already struggling, and you don’t want to push the car too much. I’m not one to complain about the fog, but that was extreme – it was the right call to red flag the last stage on safety alone.”

 

Friday stages

Onto the following morning with the first full day of morning and afternoon stages and first up was SS4 Laborel / Chauvac-Laux-Montaux 1. Oliver mastered the conditions and was fastest again from Thierry who was nineteen seconds behind, whilst Elfyn was third a further six seconds back. Oliver’s lead was now a huge one minute and ten seconds over Elfyn whilst Seb was now a further thirty seconds behind in third. Jon remained the best of the Puma drivers, now holding fifth position.

Next up came SS5 Saint-Nazaire-le-Désert / La Motte-Chalancon 1 and Elfyn would set the pace in this one from Seb and Adrien, whilst the leader saw almost thirty seconds taken from his lead as he suffered a puncture. The gap to Elfyn who still held second overall came down to just under forty-four seconds. We did see a position change as Adrien moved ahead of Jon with the Frenchman now into fifth.

The final stage then of the morning and Oliver was again fastest from Thierry and Adrien. The stage conditions were suiting the Hyundai drivers better meaning they were closer to the pace near the front and even the returning Hayden setting the sixth fastest time.  Elfyn was fourth in this one and saw the gap to Oliver go back to over a minute again.

Onto the afternoon stages and SS7 Laborel / Chauvac-Laux-Montaux 2 was first up. Oliver was fastest but by a smaller margin of just under two seconds from Seb whilst Elfyn was third fastest. Clearly the Hyundai drivers really were finding this one tricky as Thierry was almost twenty seconds behind just in this one stage and he was now over two and a half minutes behind the rally leader.

Next up was SS8 Saint-Nazaire-le-Désert / La Motte-Chalancon 2, the penultimate stage of the day and Seb was fastest by sixteen seconds over Elfyn and Oliver third. Seb’s pace reduced the gap to Elfyn to eighteen seconds.

The final stage then of the day, SS9 La-Bâtie-des-Fontes / Aspremont 2. Seb was fastest again from Oliver by a little under ten seconds, whilst Elfyn a further 2.8 seconds back and saw the gap over Seb come down to six and a half seconds. Thierry had a nightmare stage with an off into a ditch and had to have help from the spectators to re-join. He fell behind his teammate Adrien, now a full minute behind and in fifth position. Jon completed the day in sixth position.

Let’s take a look at the top ten at the end of Friday and hear from the drivers.

Classification after Day Two

1 O. Solberg E. Edmondson Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 2:11:13.1 2 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1:08.4 3 S. Ogier V. Landais Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1:14.9 4 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +5:05.2 5 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +6:05.3 6 J. Armstrong S. Byrne Ford Puma Rally1 +7:18.8 7 H. Paddon J. Kennard Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +7:42.1 8 L. Rossel G. Mercoiret Citroën C3 +8:27.5 9 E. Camilli T. De La Haye Škoda Fabia RS +9:07.1 10 N. Gryazin K. Aleksandrov Lancia Ypsilon Rally2 +9:08.8

 

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Oliver Solberg

“It’s been another really incredible day and I’m very happy. The goal was to try and stay consistent and avoid problems. We did have one slow puncture, but the rest has been really good. This afternoon was more about trying to survive. In the first one we could still be fastest, and then when it got dark it was a bit too risky to push. There was also a lot of mud being further back on the road and having to do big cuts in those conditions for the first time with this car. So, there’s still a lot of learning going on, and still a crazy long way to go.”

Elfyn Evans

“We’ve had quite a lot of different conditions again today. It started off pretty icy in the first stage which was tricky, but we got through the morning loop pretty well without too much drama. The afternoon was then quite difficult; there was less ice and snow but more mud on the road and maybe I didn’t attack enough in the muddy cuts. We lost quite a bit of ground to Seb, who’s been doing a great job, so it’s close and exciting for tomorrow. With more difficult conditions to come, it looks like it will be a classic ‘Monte’ until the end.”

Sébastien Ogier

“This morning was tricky again for us with the slush on the road. Today we had two cars making a line for us, but the road was evolving and improving a lot behind us. This afternoon the conditions changed, and we managed to turn it around a bit. We didn’t have to go through any slush, but it was still very challenging with an incredible amount of mud on the road and a lot of water. It was probably getting worse for those behind and we could set some good times. It’s a nice fight now with Elfyn, and exciting for the rest of the rally.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“Today was a bit of a disaster for me unfortunately. This morning we had two punctures, and in the afternoon I was caught out by some slush and then hit a bank and we lost the power steering after that. It was a big job with so many hairpins, but I’ve been training a lot and we managed to get through the day. Still, we have two days to go and I will try to reset and find some positives.”

Sami Pajari

“After the disappointment of yesterday we just want to learn all that we can over the rest of the event. We’ll keep on trying things and maximise what we can. We had super tricky conditions today, with many difficult tyre choices in the different conditions – something I’ve pretty much never experienced before. Steadily the pace has been getting better, but of course there is still room to improve.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Adrien Fourmaux

“We had some issues this afternoon that we had to manage, crucially the handbrake. In all of the hairpin entrances I tried to go as wide as possible to get round them in one go, we had to go into reverse a couple of times which was very quick to engage. We’re in fourth now, so we will be patient and keep our eyes on having a trouble-free day tomorrow, as well as Super Sunday and Power Stage points when they matter most.”

Thierry Neuville

“Unfortunately, we made a mistake on the final stage today; we went into a corner a little bit too fast and got pulled into a ditch with no way out. I think we should have chosen to run the studded tyres, as we had two in the car, because there was a little bit more ice than we initially expected after speaking with our gravel crew. At the moment we’re still fighting with ourselves, but the rally is long, and we still have two days to go. We need to take what we can from here, and that’s all we can do at the moment.”

Hayden Paddon

“Today was another tough day. There were some tricky conditions, particularly on the second pass with some pretty polluted roads. We’re still trying to get fully comfortable in the car while maintaining our position and pushing through – which actually makes it harder to drive. We’re navigating that balance and trying to learn as much as we can about the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 car.”

 

Saturday

The third day of action will see the crews tackle a shorter day of 77km’s over four stages, two of which will be the huge just under 30km stage which open the day and finish the day before the crews head to Monaco for a short blast around the streets.

 

Who will hold the lead?

After what seems to have been a really short break from competition it’s time for the teams to begin the battle for this years championship titles. Although two world championship crews retired from the championship after the season closing round last year, we still have two champions from Toyota and Hyundai taking to the start ramp in Monte Carlo.

This year’s event sees four days of action which the event takes place over. This year sees the crew tackle 339km’s over seventeen stages, the first three of which will be on Thursday evening. Then on Friday there are six stages including a double run of a 28km stage. Saturday sees four stages with the last being a run around the Monaco race circuit. The last day sees four stages with the power stage being the longest of the day at 23km’s.

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“After a short turnaround like always, I’m looking forward to the new season and to be hopefully fighting at the sharp end. I’m sure it’s going to be a competitive year and we will have to be at our best. There’s quite a lot of continuity in terms of the car and the tyres, and although we finished last season in a pretty good place, the team is always working to find improvements and that bit more performance that we as drivers are always asking for. Rallye Monte-Carlo is always a bit of an unknown in the sense that you cannot be sure beforehand what conditions you will face. It’s a huge challenge and it’s all about adapting as best as you can during the event.”

 

Sébastien Ogier

“It’s been nice to have some time to celebrate and appreciate what we achieved last year, but the focus is already on the new season when everyone starts again from zero. Even though I won’t be driving on every rally just as in the last few seasons, it’s still going to be quite an intense schedule. We will try to make the best of it together with this great team, which is always pushing hard to keep improving every year. As with every year, it’s exciting for me to start Rallye Monte-Carlo. It’s the rally that means the most to me and the one that made me dream, so it was a proud moment to win it for a 10th time last year. The target will be the same this time, but it never gets any easier.”

Oliver Solberg

“It’s a dream moment to be starting the new season as a Toyota Rally1 driver. I don’t have clear expectations in terms of results this year; I just want to do my job to the best of my ability and see how it goes. While I know the car quite well on gravel, I feel I still have some learning to do on asphalt. On this surface you feel a bigger difference from Rally2 to Rally1 machinery in terms of speed, but we’ve had some good testing and I have a very good feeling in the car. Rallye Monte-Carlo is an event that you just have to love, even if it’s really tricky and probably the most difficult rally of the year. It’s always a special experience and I’m really looking forward to it.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“It’s always special to be starting a new season in Monte Carlo. The conditions are some of the trickiest we face during the season, so the feeling beforehand can be quite mixed: you’re looking forward to it, but at the same time you never know what will happen. We need to have good communication with our route note crews, who are giving us the latest information about the conditions, which can change very quickly. In our pre-event test, we had ice and snow, but it was melting, so we could also see how the car and tyres were working on wet asphalt, and I could feel some good progress. My target this year is to deliver more results and I’m ready to give my best.”

Sami Pajari

“It’s an exciting feeling to be starting my second season with the Rally1 car. Last year was pretty much all about learning, as in most of the rallies it was my first time there with this car. Still, in the second half of the year things were clearly going better and better, and now I’m feeling much more ready to be competitive. The car is pretty much the same as last year, as are the tyres, and I feel much more confident in understanding what it’s capable of. Rallye Monte-Carlo is maybe the most challenging event of the season with the chance for a big range of different conditions, but I hope to have a good feeling and enjoy it.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“Rallye Monte-Carlo is always a tough event to start the season with, but there’s always a lot of excitement around it. There are new challenges, a new opportunity for a good season, and the chance to win the rally that everybody wants to win. To have a good event you need to trust the car; it has to be easy to drive in all kinds of conditions, and if you trust that the car is predictable, it makes your life much easier. It’s tough to predict the conditions now, but we can say for sure that we will have a mix of drier and icier sections. We’ve won it twice, and we always say, “there’s never two without three”, so hopefully we can be right up there and stand on the top step at the end of the rally.”

Adrien Fourmaux

“I’m very excited to be returning to Rallye Monte-Carlo in the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 car. It’s infamous because of the mixed conditions we always face, and the intensity of the event is unique. It marks the start of the season, so being back in the car is always something special and I’m really looking forward to it. I always try to make sure I have an easy car in Monte Carlo. It needs to be drivable in all the conditions we could face, which means snow, ice, rain and dry conditions. It’s been snowing a lot in the north Alps, so I think we will definitely have some snow, even if it’s just on the side of the roads. Our target is to win the rally – if there’s one to win, it’s this one.”

Hayden Paddon

“There’s definitely a mix of nerves and excitement ahead of Rallye Monte-Carlo, but I’m sure once we get into it those nerves will settle. It’s the most challenging event of the season, so it’s a daunting prospect, but I’m excited to drive a very cool car at such a historic event. We did a test at Hyundai Motorsport’s new base to get some proper mileage in the car so we can adapt and learn a bit more about the Hyundai i20 N Rally1. I don’t think anyone truly knows what to expect from the surface and weather conditions until we get there – that’s the unpredictability of Monte Carlo – so we have to prepare for every possibility. Our goal is for us to finish, and we’ll be keeping it clean to support Thierry and Adrien in their fight at the front.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Josh McErlean

“It’s great to be back for a second year with M-Sport, a lot has changed since this time last year when we were preparing for Monte. It’s fantastic to be back with the team and everyone involved. The off-season has been busy getting everything ready and properly prepared, and Monte-Carlo is always an exciting way to kick off the season with the conditions, tyre choices and the inevitable nerves! We feel much more prepared than this time last year and our focus is on getting the season off to a solid start.”

Jon Armstrong

“I’m really looking forward to Rally Monte Carlo and getting underway with the Puma Rally1 for the first time with M-Sport. There’s a lot to learn for us – Monte Carlo’s unique conditions, the changeable weather, and the tyre choices. The tyres are brand new for us too, so there’s been a good bit of learning with the Hankook package.

“Our pre-event testing was really valuable, as we experienced a wide range of conditions. It was a big pleasure to drive the Puma properly for the first time and I’m really enjoying the car. We had one day with mixed tarmac, mud and icy sections, and another day on full snow, so we were able to test all the tyres in almost every scenario – including finding out the hard way how little grip slicks have on ice!

“Overall, I’m enjoying the process and there’s plenty more to come as we build experience and kilometres behind the wheel. Shane and I are very grateful for the opportunity and excited to get started at Rallye Monte-Carlo. We’ll see where we are after the first day and a half, take it from there, and hopefully show progress over the rally. I’m really looking forward to the season ahead.”

 

Grégoire Munster

“Looking forward to being at the start of Rallye Monte-Carlo, it’s probably my favourite event on the WRC calendar. It’s also the rally where I took my first stage win with the Puma, so I have a lot of good memories here.

“We were quite competitive here in 2025, we were fourth overall on Friday, so I’m looking to show some similar pace this year. Obviously, our preparation will be a bit different from usual as we haven’t been able to go testing. But I go to Monte with no pressure, it’s just a good opportunity to get a good result and I want to enjoy it to the fullest. I don’t know when my next outing will be, so I just want to enjoy it and be as fast as possible.”

 

Summary

What an interesting rally in prospect then. We have a good mix of the usual suspects and some returning talent with Hayden and John returning. Then we have some new faces at the top as Jon and Shane make their debut at the top level of the rallying world. For them it will be a case of getting through the stages on the first runs and then seeing how they can improve in the second runs.

 

Who can challenge Seb and Vincent at the top to take victory this weekend. Well, Elfyn and Scott will fancy their chances this year and starting near the front of the field will certainly help their chances.

 

Of course, Thierry and Martijn will want to repeat their win like they had at the start of 2024 and get their challenge underway.

Their teammates Adrien and Alex though will fancy their chances and after taking a podium last year with third, perhaps they will be the leading Hyundai crew at the end?

It will be interesting to see how Josh and Eoin get on this year with the experience gained from 2025. They took seventh overall last year in the rally. What could they deliver for M-Sport this year? Also, a surprise returning crew are Greg and Louis who will be in a Puma. They took a stage win last year before retiring from the event. Can they get a decent result and then perhaps secure more drives throughout the season?

One last thing to mention is the manufacturer who are one of the most successful in the history of this championship as Lancia make their return with their Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale. Seven of these cars will make their way over the start ramp.

We came then to the final day of the round and with just under 66km’s over three stages this championship was not decided by any means. Ott and Martin would return to the action and open the road throughout the final day.

Onto the action with the SS15 Thabhan 1 – 16.29 km and Adrien was fastest from Kalle and Thierry. Seb and Elfyn made it through safely setting the fourth and fifth fastest time respectively with just a tenth of a second separating them. Thierry’s pace took him ahead of Martins after the Latvian was sixth fastest and almost ten seconds slower, but the gap remained close with just two seconds between them.

Next up was SS16 Asfan – 33.28 km and it was a strong run by Seb who was fastest from Thierry and Sami. Two crews suffered punctures in this one with Kalle and Martins being those to have that problem. The Latvian Puma crew stopped to change the tyre and then continued, before getting a second puncture before completing the stage. Unfortunately, Adrien and Alex were caught in their dust trail and lost time. They would be given this time back later and regained second place before the final stage. There was huge drama for Takamoto who lost third overall after a soft roll over. The windscreen was quite broken on the Yaris, but they did manage to finish the stage. The result of this now meant that Seb was now in the podium positions. This gave him and Vincent an even better chance to take the title given that Elfyn was in sixth place after Kalle fell behind him.

After a break in the action the crews lined up for the final stage, SS17 Thabhan 2[Power Stage]. Ott set the early pace and the other cars completed the stage, not getting anywhere near the time the Estonian set. Then came Elfyn and Scott who on each split were clearly getting the hammer down and at each split the gap to Ott and Martins time was getting bigger and they crossed the line almost ten seconds faster. Seb and Vincent came through and was second fastest and with that secured third overall. This meant they’d secured the 2025 crown, Seb’s ninth and Vincent’s first. Elfyn and Scott had done everything they could to secure the championship, and this was the fifth time they’d come second in the title fight.

Let’s take a look at the final standings for the rally and hear from the drivers.

Final Overall Classification – Rally Saudi Arabia

1 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 3:21:17.3 2 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +54.7 3 S. Ogier V. Landais Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1:03.3 4 S. Pajari M. Salminen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1:51.7 5 T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1:59.9 6 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +3:43.9 7 K. Rovanperä J. Halttunen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +5:31.5 8 G. Munster L. Louka Ford Puma Rally1 +7:07.2 9 J. McErlean E. Treacy Ford Puma Rally1 +8:30.5 10 O. Solberg E. Edmondson Toyota GR Yaris +10:00.6

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“It’s been a long wait since the last victory, but it’s good to be back on the top step, especially at the end of the season after a tough year. We’re super happy, and of course getting the 1-2 is very important for the team – they have all been working hard. The next few weeks are the most important to help us be contenders again in 2026. We need to bring some more upgrades and improvements to the car as well as develop the structure within the team. We have learnt a lot about the evolution of the car recently, and now we need to push to put those learnings into performance.”

Adrien Fourmaux

“If you remove our penalty, I’m really pleased with how we managed this rally. We made the decision to take softs at the beginning, against the decision of the others, and we made the right choice in doing that. We were managing the pressure of the others catching up with us, and I’m really pleased we were able to and have that self-control inside of the car. We are the unofficial winners! The speed is there, the management is there and so is the reliability for us, so these are the things I need to keep up my motivation for next year – there is no reason to doubt the steps we have taken forward this year.”

Ott Tänak

“Today wasn’t the greatest day to open the road. It’s been demanding, but we still tried to have good rhythm and drive. These cars are some of the best things in motorsport at the moment, they’re really fun to drive and I’m sure really fun to watch from the outside too. I tried to enjoy this today, and I really enjoyed it. Let’s see what the future brings. I don’t know how much things are going to change but let’s see what the sport does and where it goes. I’m not turning my back on rallying; it’s given me so much and I’m very grateful for that.”

 

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Sébastien Ogier

“What a fight it’s been with Elfyn and Scott. A great champion needs great opponents, and they have been super strong and pushing us to the limits until the very last stage of the year. Well done to them, to Kalle and Jonne also, and to the whole team. It’s been such a successful season, and I’m proud and happy to be part of this family. I never thought that this moment of a ninth title would come after I decided to make a change and spend more time with my family. It’s thanks to having the chance to work with this fantastic team and finding a young co-driver in Vincent who’s doing an amazing job alongside me, bringing such positive energy and making me feel younger. Together we’ve achieved great things and I’m very happy to welcome him to the world champions’ club.”

Sami Pajari

“We came here with a mission to take the first win and it was going really well for a lot of the rally. It’s disappointing what happened yesterday afternoon which meant we couldn’t have an even better result, but I’m super happy with the performance that we did here this week on a new and difficult rally. After the podium in Japan, we end this first season with quite a nice feeling, and I’m really grateful to the team for the great job they are doing to help us get faster and stronger. It feels promising for next year and I’m looking forward to that.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“It was good to reach the finish of this rally but today could have been better. We were fighting for the podium until one slightly optimistic pacenote in the penultimate stage. We went off and when trying to come back to the road, we dug into the very soft sand, and it caused us to roll. It’s such a pity because we were being patient all weekend and then made this small mistake, but this is rallying. I’m sorry to the team but I want to thank them for the massive support they gave me this year, and I will work hard to come back stronger.”

Elfyn Evans

“I think we did what we could this weekend. The tyre change on Friday didn’t help but that’s been the name of the game this week and everyone’s had their fair share of issues. I didn’t have a great run through the middle stage – I’ve been struggling a bit in the more sandy sections this weekend – and many others had problems which promoted Seb up the leaderboard. It wasn’t to be for us, but Seb and Vincent have been amazing all year and deserve this title. I’m a competitor and I always want more, but it’s been a good season with a fantastic team behind us, pushing us all the way: thank you to everyone for the amazing job.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“Congratulations to Seb and Vincent on the title: they fully deserve it; they have been very good this year. For us it was not really the last rally that we wanted but we knew that it would be tough. Still, the feeling is good. Of course, it’s sad to be leaving the sport and the people who have been the biggest part of my life, but I can also be super proud of what we’ve achieved: it has been quite amazing. I have so many people to thank but first of all to Jonne, we’ve had such good times together, great results but also a lot of fun. And a special thanks to Toyota and everyone in the team for these great years together.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Grégoire Munster

“Saudi was a new experience for us – hot, rough, and full of different terrains to tackle. We had everything from very fast sections to technical stages, and others with deep sand and ruts that required a completely different driving style. I’m glad we made it through without major issues. The pace wasn’t exactly where we wanted it to be, but finishing eighth overall and scoring some points is a solid result. A big thank you to the whole team for their efforts. It’s been a long and tough season with plenty of positives, and it’s good to be able to reflect on that.”

Josh McErlean

“It’s been a challenging rally for us. A puncture on the first stage meant we were doing road cleaning on the following days, which wasn’t ideal. But it’s been an incredible experience to be here for Saudi’s first WRC event, seeing these fantastic desert stages. To still finish in the top ten despite the number of punctures is a testament to the team. Huge credit to everyone involved, including the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy, John Coyne, and Eoin on the pacenotes. Now we look forward to what comes next.”

Nasser Al-Attiya

“I’m really happy to compete here in the Rally1 car, I’d like to say a big thank you to M-Sport for making this possible. It wasn’t easy to find a car, and after one call to Malcolm, suddenly we had a car ready. It’s amazing to be here and compete at this level – normally I come and compete in the Rally2 car, but experiencing these stages in a Rally1 is completely different. I’m really happy with the experience and will definitely aim to do it again next year.”

Mārtiņš Sesks

“Well, I think there is some relief for me and Renārs that we have the pace, and that we can do things in the right way. I am happy with what we have shown together with the team after all the hard work that has been put in. It was a pleasure to be back.”

Oliver Solberg

“This rally brings a new vision to the World Rally Championship – it brings us back to the Middle East, where we haven’t been for such a long time. I can understand the thinking for the guys fighting for the championship, it’s a really tough one with some very tricky terrain and a lot of rocks – it’s kind of a small Dakar! But, for me, the championship needs this sort of mix of rallies. I had a great week here in Saudi.

“And, like I said earlier, this has been the most fantastic season. I have so many people to thank and the first one has to be Elliott. We have been on this journey together, he’s right beside me in the car and I couldn’t have a better co-driver and friend. Of course, everybody at TOYOTA and Printsport, I can’t thank them all enough – the same with Monster Energy and all of our partners. And then to my family, to my fiancée Chloe and my mom and dad and everybody, thank you. We did it.”

Summary

How to sum up this rally and the title win for Seb and Vincent. Well, first of all I’m going to discuss the top three in the rally.

Thierry and Martijn finally took a win in their title defence year. It was a controlled drive from the pair. Thierry was worried they were not pushing hard enough, but it was enough to deliver them victory in what was a really tough event.

Adrien and Alex came the closest they’d ever come to their first victory and to be honest a win they deserved to take. They were given a one-minute penalty and ultimately finished just under a minute behind their teammates.

Finally, Seb and Vincent took third place and with that this years world championship. They were fastest over the three stages on the final day, giving them the points, which delivered the championship. There were only four points in the end which separated them and their teammates Elfyn and Scott. That’s how close it was in the end.

I shall be writing a review of the battle between the three championship protagonists.

 

Here’s the final points standings for 2025.

2025 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round 14

1 S. Ogier 293 2 E. Evans 289 3 K. Rovanperä 256 4 O. Tänak 216 5 T. Neuville 194 6 T. Katsuta 122 7 A. Fourmaux 115 8 S. Pajari 107 9 O. Solberg 71 10 G. Munster 40

 

 

2025 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round 14

1 Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team 735 2 Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team 511 3 M-Sport Ford World Rally Team 205 4 Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team 2 158

Onto the second day then of the event and the crews had just over 130km’s over six stages. Nasser would open the road throughout the day, whilst championship leader Elfyn would be the fourth driver into the stages. Adrien as the overnight leader would be the final driver from the top class to start giving them a bit of an advantage perhaps with the road conditions.

First up then was SS9 Alghullah 1 – 11.69 km and Adrien was fastest from Sami and Martins. Best of the rest was Ott who was fourth fastest and 18 seconds from the lead. For the three championship challengers it was Kalle who made the best time but was only half a second faster than Seb, the gap between them over thirty seconds.

Onto the longest stage then of the day, SS10 Um Al Jerem 1 – 30.58 km and Ott was fastest from Martins and Sami. The Latvian duo moved past Sami and back into second overall and were now just over four seconds away from Adrien and the lead. Kalle and Elfyn were both quicker than Seb in this one with the Finn moving closer to the Frenchman.

The final morning stage then SS11 Wadi Almatwi 1 – 24.90 km and Ott was fastest again from Martins and Sami. The rally leader, Adrien was fourth and saw his lead cut to a little under three seconds. Meanwhile there was drama for the championship leaders who lost over two minutes after having to stop for a puncture near the start of the stage. They fell one position to tenth, now over ten seconds behind Greg.

Into the afternoon stages SS12 Alghullah 2 – 11.69 km and Ott made it three stage wins in a row setting the pace from Martins and Adrien. Once again, Martins moved a little closer to Adrien with the gap now under two seconds. Ott’s pace took him onto the same overall time as Sami in fourth. Elfyn closed on Greg for ninth the gap now under sixth seconds.

Next it was back to the SS13 Um Al Jerem 2 – 30.58 km and Martins took the stage win from Thierry and Takamoto. This was a brilliant run by the M-Sport crew and took them back into the overall lead by over twenty-two seconds. The former leader, Adrien, had an overshoot at a junction and was only seventh fastest. Ott had drama as he suffered a puncture losing over a minute and a half. The Estonian duo dropped two positions as a result. Sami also had the same problem and fell five positions to eighth place as Elfyn moved up one place to ninth. The top three were now Martins, Adrien and Thierry, whilst Takamoto was now in fourth. Seb and Kalle also gain one position each moving into sixth and seventh respectively.

Time then for the final stage of the day, SS14 Wadi Almatwi 2 – 24.90 km and Kalle was fastest in this one from Thierry and Takamoto. There was drama for the top two as both Martins and Adrien suffered punctures which they did not stop to change. There were others who had punctures including Seb, Thierry, Greg, Takamoto and Ott. In fact, the Estonian had two punctures. They stopped to change the first before getting another later in the stage. The top three was Martins, Thierry and Takamoto. When the stage ended Adrien was holding the lead but was later was given a one-minute penalty for being early to the time control. This meant that the Frenchman was now in fourth, 57 seconds behind new leader Martins. There were changes in positions in the championship contenders as Kalle passed Seb and moved into fifth place, Seb now in sixth and Elfyn was now in eighth place. We lost Ott on the road section as there was suspension damage to his car and a decision was taken to retire the car after the double puncture.

Let’s take a look at the top positions and hear from the drivers.

Classification after Day Two

1 M. Sesks R. Francis Ford Puma Rally1 2:43:20.1 2 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +3.4 3 T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +41.5 4 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +57.6 5 K. Rovanperä J. Halttunen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1:12.6 6 S. Ogier V. Landais Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1:12.8 7 S. Pajari M. Salminen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1:34.8 8 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +3:52.6 9 G. Munster L. Louka Ford Puma Rally1 +6:13.4 10 O. Solberg E. Edmondson Toyota GR Yaris +7:26.7

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“It was a very tough day out there. We were pushed to our limits, and we had to somehow find a good approach to allow us to go fast and avoid the stones. This rally is a big lottery for everybody – you need to have a bit of luck here. We got punctures yesterday, and one front-right puncture on the last stage today but luckily not too far from the finish so we didn’t drop too much time. There’s room for more, so we’re going to try and find that tomorrow.”

Adrien Fourmaux

“I was really pleased with our performance today. I think we might have been able to push more, but we were playing with the balance of pushing or saving the car and the tyres and I think we managed that quite well. We came back here in the lead, with a small gap, ready to fight tomorrow – we were enjoying being in the battle with all the young guns, but now we are fourth after a time penalty for an early check-in. We’re not sure what happened, but at the moment I can only focus on myself and let the team investigate further.”

Ott Tänak

“We had a lot of punctures today; it is what it is but at least we tried. We want to get to the end of this rally, but hopefully there will still be a fight for the podium tomorrow we can follow. It’s been a proper lottery, and we didn’t have too good a weekend.”

 

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Takamoto Katsuta

“It’s good to be up to third overall tonight. We had some difficulties during the afternoon with the tyres, but we managed it without needing to stop on the stage, and this helped a lot to gain the positions. To have 42s to the lead is quite a big gap, but there’s still three stages to go and you never know what can happen, especially here with how tough this rally has been. We will just try to keep going like this tomorrow and avoid problems and see where we are at the end.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“It’s been a long and tricky day. I tried to just be fast and avoid the trouble. The conditions were really tough already on the first pass; even with only four cars in front of us, we still had a lot of surprises and loose stones. The last stage of the loop was especially rough and that’s where everyone else started to get issues and we managed to make up some positions. The situation is still not in our favour but at least we are in the mix, and we will just try to enjoy our final day tomorrow and go for it.”

Sébastien Ogier

“It’s been a demanding day. I knew that Elfyn had stopped in the last stage of the morning and took that stage a bit more carefully because of that, but it didn’t really change much about the championship: we still had to try and stay ahead of Kalle. We anticipated that this last stage of the day would be the roughest one of the weekend and I tried to have a careful rhythm there but had this loss of tyre pressure at the end. At least we still have our destiny in our hands: tomorrow we hope to stay out of trouble and have to go for it.”

Sami Pajari

“It was a really close fight still today. I was expecting there would start to be some bigger time gaps, but everyone was pushing quite hard, and the margins were small. I still felt I was being clever in the places where I could see a risk of damaging the car or tyres, and in other sections I was doing all I can. Unfortunately, we had to stop and change the tyre in SS13. We were not the only ones to have such trouble, but we were chasing for our first victory and really in the fight. The pace was there, so it’s a big disappointment but of course we need to take the positives into the last day tomorrow.”

Elfyn Evans

“It wasn’t ideal what happened to us this morning. We got the tyre pressure alarm quite early in the third stage of the loop and with so far still to go we had to make the decision to stop and change it rather than try to drive on it. Thankfully we could make up some places this afternoon with others having issues and so it’s still quite open and it will all come down to tomorrow now. It’s pretty straightforward in a way: we just have to give it the best shot we can and see what happens.”

 

Oliver Solberg

Oliver said: “It’s been another good day. This rally has been such a cool challenge, it’s amazing to come somewhere new like this and to meet new people and new fans. And the roads are incredible, so tough, but so rewarding to drive.

“I was in the last stage this afternoon and all the way from the start line to the finish, across the mountains I could see this helicopter following us – it was HRH Prince Khalid bin Sultan Al-Abdullah Al-Faisal with my fiancée Chloe and my mom and dad. It was super-cool, they were with me for the whole way and when I had a straight section, I had time to wave to them a little bit!

“Tomorrow is going to be another big day for Elliott [Edmondson, co-driver] and me. It’s the final day of the season with this fantastic Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 and with this fantastic Printsport team. I want to go out on a real high and win some more stages and really enjoy myself – but Elliott and I are still learning and taking more experience.”

 

Summary

Well, what a day. We had a number of changes of the leader plus punctures and a penalty for Adrien which gave Martins the overnight lead heading into the final day of the rally and the year.

The crews face almost 66m’s over three stages with a single run through the longest stage of the weekend which is 33km’s. What will we witness? Elfyn and Scott’s first crown or Seb and Vincent’s first championship as a crew and Seb’s ninth title? Or perhaps Kalle and Jonne will take it?

Will we also witness Martins and Renars first win at the top level and the first win for M-Sport since Ott and Martin won in Chile 2023?

The first full day of action would see the crews tackle 112km’s over seven stages. There had been a single stage run in the previous evening and we had a top three of Ott, Seb and Martins whilst Elfyn was fifth overall, 2.1 seconds from the overnight leader. Of course, the championship leader would open the road throughout the first full day of action.

 

Into SS2 Al Fasallyah 1 – 19.36 km and the top three in the championship would set very different time. Seb managed the third best time, Kalle sixth and Elfyn was ninth, reflecting the different road positions they faced. The top two in the stage were Martins and Sami. The surprise result was that the Latvian duo we now leading from Seb, whilst Sami gained four positions and moved into third overall.

 

Next up came SS3 Moon Stage 1 – 20.12 km which had quite a different character to the first stage with a harder surface and rocks lining the road. Martins was again fastest from Adrien and Ott this time, whilst Kalle was the fastest of the three challengers in eighth with Seb tenth and Elfyn twelfth. The three of them held seventh to ninth in the overall standings.

The final morning stage then SS4 Khulays 1 – 11.33 km and Sami was fastest from Adrien and Thierry this time. Martins had a moment on the stage at the same point as Elfyn as they both had to reverse back to the correct part of the stage and they both lost around six seconds. The Latvian held onto the lead from Adrien by just 1.3 seconds.

 

After service came SS5 Al Fasallyah 2 – 19.36 km and Martins kept his pace high going fastest again from Sami and Adrien who’d set the same time as Seb who was fourth fastest. Elfyn was ninth finding the conditions really tricky but was holding eighth overall one position behind Seb.

 

Onwards to SS6 Moon Stage 2 – 20.12 km and Sami was fastest from Takamoto and Adrien third. Thierry and Ott set the same time for fourth and fifth fastest. Kalle moved up one position to ninth overall and was now 5.6 seconds behind Elfyn. There was drama for Martins though as he got a puncture. He fell to third overall but remained close to the top, just 12.9 seconds from the new leader Sami.

 

Onto the final proper stage then of the day, SS7 Khulays 2 – 11.33 km and it was a 1-2-3 for the Hyundai crews as Ott was fastest from Thierry and Adrien. Martins was fourth in this one as Adrien moved into the lead. Sami had a tyre breakup and lost over ten seconds. Further back Kalle also passed Elfyn for eighth overall.

 

The final stage then, SS8 Jameel Motorsport Super Special 2 – 5.22 km and Martins and Seb set the same time with Ott a further half a second back with the third fastest time. The top positions closed up with Martins in third overall, just 6.9 seconds from the lead.

 

Let’s take a look at the top positions and hear from the drivers.

Classification after Day One

1 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Hyundai i20 N Rally1 1:18:45.3 2 S. Pajari M. Salminen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +6.0 3 M. Sesks R. Francis Ford Puma Rally1 +6.9 4 O. Tänak M. Järveoja Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +13.7 5 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +14.9 6 T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +22.9 7 S. Ogier V. Landais Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +44.2 8 K. Rovanperä J. Halttunen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1:21.2 9 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1:25.3 10 G. Munster L. Louka Ford Puma Rally1 +2:10.9

Hyundai Motorsport

Adrien Fourmaux

“I’m really pleased with today. I always think we can push more, but we are playing with the balance of pushing or saving the car and the tyres and I think we managed that quite well. We are leading tonight, but the gaps are small, so nothing is certain. Today was demanding on the tyres, especially on the second stage of the afternoon loop. It’s really nice to be in the fight with the young guns. Tomorrow the stages all vary, but they all have similarities to some of today’s. It’s positive to finish a day like this, and we will see what happens tomorrow.”

Ott Tänak

“Today has been all about surviving and keeping it clean, we’ve done that so it’s good and I’m happy there haven’t been any big incidents. Hopefully we have learnt enough from today and can improve the feeling in the car a bit. Everything is still very close so it’s all possible, but we need a bit more speed.”

Thierry Neuville

“I enjoyed today, the diversity of the stages and the profile meant I had good fun. There’s a good mix of challenging and rough conditions, and I think we managed them quite well. I was generally happy with my tyre choice this afternoon; we just had a couple of issues today including a delamination on SS7 which cost us a bit of time. For us there is no championship pressure, so we are just having fun while trying to stay in the fight for the result. We are just over 16 seconds from the lead, so on that side all good.”

 

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Sami Pajari

“It’s been a really positive day for us. To take a couple of stage wins, be consistently close to the top times and even leading the rally at one point is really good. It’s a pity what happened with the tyre on the last gravel stage because we dropped a bit of time there, but we’re still only a few seconds away from the lead. It’s not easy to manage things here, but I tried to push in the sections that felt safe and be smarter in the tricky places. Tomorrow will be a longer day but it would be good if we can continue like this.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“This first full day was a tough one as expected. It’s very hot out there but the team has done a really good job to try and make us comfortable. This first stage of the loop in the desert was really nice, with super high speed and big jumps. Otherwise, we were just trying to avoid mistakes and the puncture risk, which was quite high this afternoon. I’d like to be higher than sixth but there’s still a long way to go, so we’ll just keep going and see what happens tomorrow.”

Sébastien Ogier

“It’s been a challenging day like we expected, and with a massive cleaning effect especially in the super twisty sections on the second and third stages of the loop. The first stage of the loop was smoother, so I tried to take the opportunity to push there and gain some time. Maybe we can’t see it in our overall position, but I think we did a really good job today. I don’t think there was anything more we could do in our position. The main target is to be in front of Elfyn and Kalle, but the gaps are still small, so we need to try and keep going tomorrow and try to gain more places if we can.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“Today has been quite tough, but it’s much the same for everybody. Unfortunately, we sustained this tyre damage in the last stage of the morning. We made the right call not to stop and change the tyre, but we still lost quite a bit of time with that and some starting positions for tomorrow, which is not so good. As we have seen today, the cleaning effect is maybe even greater than we thought, so tomorrow can be tough also. There’s still a long way to go though, so let’s see what we can do.”

Elfyn Evans

“It’s been a tough day out there. This morning I was too conservative on the first stage and a bit disappointed to give away so much time. After that, the cleaning effect was more dramatic on the next two stages, and it felt like my pace wasn’t so bad compared to Seb just behind. I think the cleaning was maybe even worse in some places on the second pass of the stages. It’s tough to know how well you’re driving when the road is evolving so fast. But we’re still here and tomorrow we have a longer loop of stages where staying out of trouble will probably be quite tough, but I’ll just stay focused on my own driving.”

 

Oliver Solberg

“It’s been a really good day,” said Oliver. “In places this morning, it was definitely more slippery than we were expecting, but the car was perfect, and we were able to enjoy the roads while taking more and more experience.

“In the afternoon, we had to be more strategic with the tyres. We pushed quite hard on the stage in the loop, but then took it easier in the middle one. We knew this Moon Stage was really abrasive, so we looked after the tyres a little bit and then pushed harder in the last one. It worked well for us.

“Some of the roads here are amazing and so much fun, but all the time you have to be keeping these rocks in mind – they are everywhere! Tomorrow will be another tough day, but me and Elliott are ready for it.”

 

Friday

The second full day of action will see the crews face a longer day with 134km’s over six stages. This includes a double run of a thirty-and-a-half-kilometre stage.

 

What will the positions be at the end of day two?

Time then for the fourteenth and final round of this years World Rally Championship on the sand and gravel roads of Saudi Arabia. This round is a complete unknown with roads which will have never been used before in the championship and in this respect it will be interesting how things develop with each car coming through. There will be completely new pace notes to prepare for the crews during recce Road position could and likely will be crucial in the ultimate result taken at the end of the rally, and this will likely have a huge bearing as to who takes the drivers and co-drivers titles.

Just three points separate Elfyn and Scott from the second placed crew of Seb and Vincent, whilst Kalle and Jonne are a further 24 points in third.

 

Now just some housekeeping to mention at this point. This will be the final WRC event for Ott and Martin as was announced by Hyundai after Rally Japan. The 2019 world champions are calling a day on their careers. Joining them in retirement are Kalle and Jonne, with Kalle switching codes to circuit racing next year in Super Formula.

 

We know who is joining Toyota’s Rally1 squad as well, as WRC2 champions Oliver and Elliot will be in the top spec GR Yaris. What we don’t know yet is whether Hyundai will run three cars next year and should they do who the third crew will be?

 

One final thing to mention following the sporting news and this is a bit political from me. Why on earth have the FIA decided to give a round of this amazing championship to a country which has a questionable government which is alleged to have carried out some really bad things against its own citizens is beyond me? I know there are a huge number of fans who’d love to see the championship back in Britain. Can you imagine the huge interest as Elfyn and Scott who lead the points standings if they were competing at home for the title on some of the most iconic stages? Only last weekend was the thirtieth anniversary of Colin and Derek taking the 1995 championship and we could have had this for the Toyota crew. I think that it is a huge shame Wales Rally GB has now been missing for six years from the championship.

 

Now, let’s take a look at the stages.

Competitive action commences on Wednesday evening with the first run of Jameel Motorsport Super Special (SS1/8, 5.22km).

A jam-packed Thursday will see crews contest seven stages: two loops of Al Faisaliyah (SS2/5, 19.36km), Moon Stage (SS3/6, 20.12km) and Khulais (SS4/7, 11.33km) followed by the final run of Jameel Motorsport Super Special (SS1/8, 5.22km).

 

Friday’s itinerary features six stages: two loops of Alghulah (SS9/12, 11.69km), Um Al Jerem (SS10/13, 30.58km) and Wadi Almatwi (SS11/14, 28.59km).

 

The final day of competition includes three stages and features the event’s longest stage: two loops of Thahban (SS15/17, 16.39km) sandwich the treacherous Asfan (SS16, 33.88km).

 

There are 319km’s over seventeen stages with the longest day of competitive action being Friday’s stages. Also, the event actually finishes on Saturday instead of Sunday.

 

Let’s hear from the drivers then.

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“We go to Saudi Arabia knowing that everything is still to play for and very open in the championship. Seb is a tough opponent and performing at a really high level, and Kalle cannot be counted out at this stage either. It will be tough, but we’re going to give it our best shot of course. Nobody really knows what to expect from this event. None of the drivers have done it before and many of the stages are completely new anyway, so it’s basically a clean sheet for all of us. We just have to arrive there, focus on doing the best rally we can, and see what comes.”

Sébastien Ogier

“It was an intense battle with Elfyn for the win at Rally Japan and it was good for us to close the gap in the championship before the final round. It’s been a strong year, I’m happy with the performance we’ve had, and I’ve really enjoyed driving the car. Hopefully this all-new rally can be a good and exciting finale for the championship. Nobody has much experience of what the stages are like there, so there can be the potential for a lot of surprises. There could be rough sections with a lot of rocks around, but hopefully the conditions are fair for all of us, and may the best man win!”

Kalle Rovanperä

“For us the championship is not really in our hands anymore, but we still have a chance, so let’s see how it goes in Saudi Arabia. The stages look to be quite tricky with a lot of rocks around, so there could be a fairly big chance of something happening for any of the drivers. All that we can do is focus on trying to do a good job and get a good result for ourselves, and we would still need the others to have a bad result. Whatever happens, hopefully we can make it a good last rally to finish this chapter in a nice way.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“I’m looking forward to discovering Rally Saudi Arabia for the first time. None of us have been there before and from the information we have, it looks like it’s going to be very tough. It could be quite like Kenya in some places, and maybe a similar kind of approach could be needed. That has suited me well in the past, but we need to see what it’s like when we get there. I hope to be able to finish the year with some positive feelings to be able to take into next year, and I’ll try my best like always.”

Sami Pajari

“It was really nice to achieve our first podium finish at Rally Japan, and it shows that we have been moving in a good direction through this first proper season with the Rally1 car. Now we have something completely new to end the year in Saudi Arabia. Nobody knows really what’s going to happen there, but I’m looking forward to it nonetheless. I would guess that it might be quite like Kenya in some ways – there we took a steady approach that really paid off in the end with a good result – but we need to wait to see exactly what challenges we face.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Ott Tänak

“We are going into the unknown with Rally Saudi Arabia, so we will have to go there and discover what the event has to offer. We will be back in the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 evo for the event, a car which has performed especially well on rough gravel. We don’t know exactly what to expect from the rough gravel in Saudi Arabia, but the team has been strong in these sort of conditions in the past.”

Thierry Neuville

“We don’t know too much about the event; we only have some footage of the stages which we can check to get a better idea of the surface and the layout. We won’t get a full understanding until we arrive in Jeddah. It’s hard to say exactly what we will need from the car setup, but with the high risk of punctures, loose stones and rough surface, we need a reliable car and a high ride height for maximum protection. We’ve had a tough year, but we will go all in for one final victory for the team – we have nothing to lose.”

Adrien Fourmaux

“I really enjoy brand-new events because all crews go into it with the same level of experience – and so it becomes all about pacenotes. We’re expecting it to be a very rough event with a lot of sand and rocks, but then also quite fast and soft in certain places, making it hard to find the perfect setup. It’s going to be warm for us inside the car, and we’ll have to manage our tyres well. I would love to finish the season on a high. We have done well in terms of performance, but this hasn’t been reflected in our results. It would be really nice to clinch our first victory at the final round of the season.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Grégoire Munster

“This is my first time in Saudi Arabia, and I’m really interested to experience the culture here and discover this brand-new rally. The stages are definitely going to be a real challenge. The terrain is a mix of sandy sections and much rougher patches, with plenty of big rocks lining the roads, so managing punctures and keeping the car in good shape will be crucial.

“It’s going to be a demanding rally, but also one that offers opportunities if you stay smart. We’ll approach it with a solid plan, and hopefully turn it into a strong result to end the season.”

Josh McErlean

“Heading into Saudi Arabia, I’m fully focused on ending my debut Rally1 season on a strong note. Japan was a tough weekend, but we’ve reset quickly and put everything into preparing for this new challenge. With the event being completely new for everyone, it really levels the playing field with no previous data to rely on.

“From what we’ve learned so far, the stages will change character quickly, so it’s the kind of rally where you need to be smart, stay committed, and strike the right balance between caution and pushing on. I’m excited for the challenge and ready to give it everything.”

Mārtiņš Sesks

“I’m excited to be back with M-Sport for the final round of the season, especially for a new event as intriguing as Rally Saudi Arabia. This is another great opportunity to continue the progression we’ve made with the Puma throughout the 2025 season. With the rally being brand-new for all the crews, it puts everyone on equal ground, which is a nice challenge to take on.

“The stages will be challenging, and adapting quickly will be key. I’m looking forward to learning as much as possible, supporting the team, and finishing the season with a positive performance.”

Nasser Al-Attiyah

“I’m incredibly proud to make my Rally1 debut with M-Sport Ford, and to do it here in Saudi Arabia makes the moment even more special. I’ve followed the evolution of the Puma Rally1 closely, and it’s an honour to finally experience this level of performance for myself. Rallying in the region is growing rapidly, and to be part of the first WRC event in Saudi Arabia is a huge privilege. My goal is to enjoy the challenge, learn as much as I can, and represent the fans here in the Middle East with a strong performance.”

 

Oliver Solberg

“What a season we’ve had,” smiled this year’s WRC2 World Rally Champion. “And what a place to end the year… Saudi Arabia. This is really a unique event in the championship, something so different and so exciting. Honestly, I think it’s impossible to predict what’s coming on this event – the roads are incredible, with so many rocks waiting to catch you out.

“It’s an amazing place to come to decide a world championship, and really good to be bringing the WRC back to the Middle East after so long (it’s 14 years since Rally Jordan in 2011). I’m looking forward to meeting lots of fans we haven’t seen before and showing them why ours is the best sport in the world!

“But before we start what’s going to be one the most challenging rounds of the season, Elliott and me want to say thank you and offer some genuine appreciation to every single person in the Printsport team – the best team in WRC2. You guys have been just incredible, you’re all a total pleasure to work with, super-professional and simply the best. Thank you. Kiitos.

“And the same to TOYOTA GAZOO Racing for making the GR Yaris Rally2 the unbelievable car it is. When I tested this car for the first time, it was quite different to what I’d been used to and I wasn’t sure what to expect. I loved it then and I really love it now. Between TOYOTA, Printsport, Elliott and me, I think we made some nice results, a nice title and a really nice team.

“To our amazing friends at Monster Energy – I couldn’t have done this without you. And to all our other partners, what an amazing journey we’ve been on. And now, to the next chapter.

“Like you know, we have signed to join the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team next season; this is my dream, it always has been. Thank you again to everybody for helping me realise my dream. Now, let’s live it together.

“But first, to Saudi Arabia and the adventure that lies in wait in the deserts and mountains of round 14. The aim? One more win. Let’s see…”

 

Summary

This is it then, whether you like it or not the final rally is taking place in Saudi Arabia. This will be a huge challenge for the crews fighting for the championship. Can Elfyn and Scott finally secure their first world title and join Colin and Derek and Richard and Robert as British World Rally Champions?

Their teammates will be working hard to do everything to take the title and perhaps the road position on Thursday’s first full day of stages will be key? Of course, as championship leaders, Elfyn and Scott will open the road.

The action gets underway with shakedown at just after eight tomorrow morning UK time. (Wednesday 26 November 2025)

The final day then of this thirteenth round of the rally championship dawned with rain falling on all the stages bringing an extra dimension of sketchiness to the roads. The plan was for Thierry to return to the action after his retirement at the start of Saturday. However, he would not start as the i20 suffered a failure of the windscreen wipers which would not work. He came back to the service park and parked up for the day. Takamoto and Aaron would therefore open the road throughout the six stages.

 

First up then was SS15 Nukata 1 – 20.23 km and the rain had made the whole stage really tricky for the crews. Takamoto had probably the best conditions and would set the third best time behind Ott and Kalle. Elfyn and Seb continued their fight for victory and in this one the Welshman was a little faster, bringing the gap down to just under six seconds.

 

Onto SS16 Lake Mikawako 1 – 13.98 km and Takamoto was once again third fastest with his teammates Seb and Elfyn the only two to go faster in the dress rehearsal for the powerstage as the Frenchman set the pace and increased his lead by a second. There was drama though for Adrien who went off the road and with that lost the right-hand door. He regained the road and finished the stage but there was no way that he and Alex could continue. Now Sami was into third overall.

 

The first of two runs of SS17 Okazaki SSS 1 – 1.98 km was won by Seb whose time was equalled by Takamoto whilst Ott was third. Elfyn was fourth fastest, but it could have been so much worse as he went down a bank near the end of the stage. He emerged just over a second slower than Seb and maintained his second place overall.

 

The second run of SS18 Okazaki SSS 2 – 1.98 km saw Takamoto set the pace from Ott and Seb with Elfyn keeping his car on the road and finishing just half a second behind Seb. The gap between the two title fighters had grown to just over eight seconds.

 

Now it was time to return to SS19 Nukata 2 – 20.23 km and the rain was still falling. Interestingly, Ott was having a good day so far and was able to set some good pace on these wet stages. Once again Seb was fastest from Elfyn with Ott with the third best time. The gap grew some more between Seb and Elfyn, now 11.5 seconds separating them.

 

We came now to the final stage, SS20 Lake Mikawako 2[Power Stage] – 13.98 km and the question was could Elfyn beat Seb on the stage and take victory? Well, Kalle who was looking to keep him and Jonne in the title fight would set the benchmark time on their final tarmac stage. However, then Elfyn came through and beat this time by over nine seconds. As Seb came through the splits showed that at first Elfyn was slower, but as Seb came closer to the end of the stage it was much closer and Seb won the stage but only one tenth separated them. Ott and Greg completed the top five.

 

Seb had won the rally and also set the fastest time on Sunday’s stages, plus taken the top points in the powerstage. It was a maximum score for him bringing him closer to Elfyn at the top of the championship.

 

Let’s take a look at the final finishing positions and hear from the drivers.

 

Final Overall Classification – Rally Japan

1 S. Ogier V. Landais Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 3:21:08.9 2 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +11.6 3 S. Pajari M. Salminen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +2:16.6 4 O. Tänak M. Järveoja Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +3:18.1 5 G. Munster L. Louka Ford Puma Rally1 +6:48.7 6 K. Rovanperä J. Halttunen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +7:01.5 7 O. Solberg E. Edmondson Toyota GR Yaris +9:35.5 8 A. Cachón B. Rozada Toyota GR Yaris +10:41.6 9 N. Gryazin K. Aleksandrov Škoda Fabia RS +11:36.2 10 J. Solans R. Sanjuan Toyota GR Yaris +12:26.0

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Sébastien Ogier

“This is the perfect result for us and I’m very happy to win this rally in Japan at home for Toyota. It’s been an intense weekend, especially this last day with very challenging conditions. A big congratulations to the team for giving us a great car again to fight like this, because today we started a completely different rally with a completely different setup, and it worked straight away. Elfyn was pushing me the whole weekend, and great wins only happen when you have great opponents.”

Elfyn Evans

“It’s been a fun and strong weekend overall and another great result for the team at home in Japan. It wasn’t easy today to be in such a big fight in those difficult conditions. We gave it our best shot, but Seb was driving very well and was too tough to beat today. It was so close between the two of us, especially in the Power Stage, and it feels like we’ve missed out on quite a few points, but that’s the name of the game and everything is still to play for going into the final rally.”

Sami Pajari

“This result feels really, really nice. It’s always special to take the first podium, and to do it in Japan and get a 1-2-3 for Toyota at home makes this even more special. There were super tricky conditions today, but we had good pace on the first two days, and today we had some margin that meant we could just make sure that we finish. It’s been a really good event, and we must be really pleased with this. It’s been a super job by all the team, and it shows we are going forwards in a good way.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“It’s been a tricky weekend overall for us and today conditions got really difficult with a lot of rain and standing water. We tried what we could to get some extra points from Sunday, but it’s not been the weekend or the result that we wanted to have. We’ve just been a bit too inconsistent this year, but we still have the chance to go for it one more time on the final round and we will try to make that a good one and see what happens.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“Thank you to the team and the fans for their great support in my home rally. I couldn’t get a good result in the end and I’m sorry for that, but I saw so much support this week and I really appreciate it. Thanks to the team for fixing the car; today I tried my best to drive for the fans. I felt good confidence and pace, but in the Power Stage there was a lot of standing water, and it didn’t work out well. I can see that it’s possible to get a good result here in the future and I will keep trying.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Ott Tänak

“The conditions today have been demanding but I enjoyed them as the car was driving better than the days before. We didn’t have to push too hard today, but it was much more drivable. We don’t know what was causing our issues over the last few days, but we will investigate with the team. We need to go to Saudi and discover what it’s like, but Hyundai have been good on rough gravel, so these kind of conditions should suit us.”

Adrien Fourmaux

“Firstly, and most importantly, both Alex and I are OK. There was a lot of mist on my windscreen which made it difficult to see the road. I didn’t hear Alex’s pacenote warning about a tricky corner, and I didn’t see it either, so we went slightly wide into the trees, which damaged the door and side of the car. Without the door and with the timecard inside, we had no choice but to retire. Of course, I am disappointed, but at the same time, we were able to fight at the front all weekend and make good progress with the car. Overall, we can say it was a really positive weekend.”

Thierry Neuville

“Unfortunately, we experienced an electrical issue on the way to the first stage this morning, which caused the wipers to stop working and forced us to retire from Rally Japan. It’s a real shame, as we were looking forward to gaining more mileage today and continuing to improve the car. Overall, it has been a very disappointing rally for us, but now it’s time to reset and focus on Rally Saudi Arabia, where we hope to be back fighting at the front.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Grégoire Munster

“I’m happy with a top-five finish in Japan. We didn’t start the rally as we had hoped, but the team worked hard on Friday and Saturday to find solutions and get the car into a much better working window. Sunday brought really tricky conditions with the rain, and it was our first time running the Hankook wet tyres. It wasn’t an easy mission, as we had to fight to hold onto fifth with Kalle behind us – finding the right balance to push without making a mistake. Overall, we’re happy to bring a top-five result home after a difficult season, and it’s a strong reward for the team’s efforts.”

Josh McErlean

“It’s really disappointing to end our rally like that. We ran wide and had a big shunt on SS3, but the main thing is that we’re both OK. It’s not the result we wanted after all the effort to get here by the team and our supporters, but we’ll regroup and come back stronger for the exciting challenge of Saudi.”

 

Oliver Solberg

The 24-year-old said: “It was quite strange coming here to compete for the first time. I love this country, I love the people, I love everything about Japan, and I’ve been here so many times, coming since I was a young boy.

“But I’d never driven a rally here!

“With the championship already sorted, the emphasis for me and Elliott was always to take experience for next year. We wanted to understand the roads as much as possible, to understand how the tyres work on the surface and build as much knowledge as possible for next year.

“Of course, we wanted to take another win in the class, but the experience was always most important. So, to be able to do both is something really cool for us. The roads here are quite amazing, so many corners. We had really dry conditions for the first two days, then it rained like crazy today [Sunday].

“It was good to see the roads in different conditions, this was giving us some more data and understanding. Me and Elliott are really happy for the team; once again everybody has been fantastic. The support we had here, like all year, has been incredible.

“But I have to save some words for the people of Toyota City. Like I said, I came here before, we have done the recce and been kind of like tourists and really enjoyed it – but coming here and feeling the amazing appreciation, emotion and passion from all of the fans is something else.

“It’s been an honour to be here competing in a Toyota. Arigatō to everybody and see you all next year.”

 

2025 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round 13

1 E. Evans 272 2 S. Ogier 269 3 K. Rovanperä 248 4 O. Tänak 213 5 T. Neuville 166 6 T. Katsuta 111 7 A. Fourmaux 96 8 S. Pajari 94 9 O. Solberg 70 10 G. Munster 36

 

2025 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round 13

1 Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team 692 2 Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team 464 3 M-Sport Ford World Rally Team 191 4 Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team 2 145

 

 

Summary

Well, it’s really close at the top of the championship with just three points between Elfyn who remains at the top of the championship and in the best position to take this year’s world championship and Seb who is looking to take his ninth title.

 

It was a close battle between the two crews for this weekend’s rally victory and I suspect that the championship will be decided potentially on the final day of the final rally.

There were a three drivers who challenged for the final podium position this weekend and it was Sami and Marko who were the one’s who secured their first, and I suspect, not the last overall WRC podium.

 

The final round then is in the middle east as the championship heads to Saudi Arabia which takes place from the twenty-sixth to the twenty-ninth of November.

The second full day of action would see the crews tackle 122km’s over seven stages. Kalle and Jonne would open the road throughout the day due to their time loss in stages three and four after their incident which left the Yaris damaged.

 

Into the action then with SS8 Obara 1 – 16.44 km first up and it was a great start from Adrien who was fastest from Elfyn and Sami. The Welshman passed Takamoto in this one after the Japanese driver was only fifth fastest. The was drama for Thierry who sadly had a problem with his transmission crawled through the stage and then headed back to service. Without a lunchtime service there was no point in risking the car any further. The good news for Elfyn was that he’d closed the gap to Seb to just 8.9 seconds.

 

Onto SS9 Ena 1 – 21.25 km Adrien was once again fastest from Elfyn and Takamoto. Meanwhile Seb was again not quite on the pace only setting the fifth best time and was now just 7.4 seconds ahead of his teammate.

 

Next up was SS10 Mt. Kasagi 1 – 21.74 km and Elfyn was fastest in this one from Takamoto and Adrien. It was a great stage from the Welshman who reduced Seb’s lead to just two seconds. This was not over by any means for Elfyn to take victory and extend his championship lead. Meanwhile his teammate Kalle was making his way up the leaderboard and was now into the top ten.

 

After the tyre fitting zone came SS11 Mt. Kasagi 2 – 21.74 km and once again Elfyn set the pace from Seb and Adrien. There was drama for Takamoto sadly who made a mistake and collided with some barriers in part of the stage. This impact caused damage to the front of his car and crucially caused damage to the power steering system meaning it failed in the stage. He struggled with the failure losing almost four and a half minutes and falling to seventh position. This meant that Adrien was now into third overall.

 

Into SS12 Ena 2 – 21.25 km then and Seb hit back on this one with his first fastest time of the day going three tenths faster than Elfyn whilst Adrien was third. Meanwhile Greg was having a better day with the Puma working better than it did on Friday’s stages.

Onto the last proper stage then of Saturday, SS13 Obara 2 – 16.44 km and Seb was fastest again from Adrien and Elfyn and saw his lead grow again over the Welshman to 4.9 seconds. Further back Kalle gained another position, passing Oliver for seventh overall.

 

All that remained was SS14 Toyota City SSS – 3.05 km and Seb was fastest from Elfyn and Adrien. The Frenchman saw his lead grow to six and a half seconds.

 

Let’s take a look at the top positions and hear from the drivers.

Classification after Day Two

1 S. Ogier V. Landais Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 2:32:55.0 2 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +6.5 3 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +23.6 4 S. Pajari M. Salminen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +45.4 5 O. Tänak M. Järveoja Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +2:34.5 6 G. Munster L. Louka Ford Puma Rally1 +4:39.6 7 K. Rovanperä J. Halttunen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +6:27.9 8 O. Solberg E. Edmondson Toyota GR Yaris +6:40.6 9 A. Cachón B. Rozada Toyota GR Yaris +7:54.9 10 N. Gryazin K. Aleksandrov Škoda Fabia RS +8:21.8

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Sébastien Ogier

“I feel that I’ve done a good job this afternoon, but I could have done better this morning – I think that’s the summary of the day. In the end we cannot be unsatisfied with what we’ve done. Elfyn was driving very well with strong pace. In the morning we lost a bit too much ground, especially in the last stage of the loop, but after that we had a good response. The gaps were still incredibly small, but going into the last day in the lead can only be positive. The conditions will probably be extra challenging for everybody, and we will have to be on it straight away.”

Elfyn Evans

“Overall, it’s been a good day. This morning things were going well and working much better than yesterday. I was maybe driving more smoothly also, and we were able to close the gap to Seb. We still had good runs through the first two stages this afternoon, but then probably gave away more than I would have liked in the last two. It’s still pretty close though and all to play for going into tomorrow. It sounds as though the weather could be very difficult, so anything can happen and we’re definitely going to keep fighting.”

Sami Pajari

“I think it has been another solid day. We again had quite consistent stage times and some good sections on most of the stages. At the same time, there are some places where I feel I should be able to improve, but that’s normal. Overall, I think I can be quite satisfied with the pace we have been doing. There’s still one day to go and I guess it will be tricky with the rain that is likely coming; let’s see together with the team how we approach it.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“It’s good that we are at least now back into the top 10 and scoring some points, so it’s been quite an OK day in that sense. Tomorrow we have the extra Sunday and Power Stage points available, and the rain looks to be coming which can make things more tricky. Not many drivers have experience with this year’s wet tyres in such conditions, so it will be something new. There’s a lot at stake in the championship so it will be an interesting day, and also my last day on asphalt with a rally car for now, so I’ll try to enjoy it.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“This morning we were closing the gap to the lead, even though it didn’t feel so fast in the car. Then in the first stage of the afternoon, I don’t know exactly what happened, but I couldn’t get the car slowed enough for the narrow entrance to this arena section. I hit the barrier, and it damaged the cooling and power steering systems. We tried what we could to fix the car; Aaron did an amazing job together with the information the team was giving us. We were able to finish the day but lost too much time. Right now, I just feel so sorry for the team and especially the fans who are supporting me.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Adrien Fourmaux

“I was really satisfied with my pace today; it was one of my best days of the season so far. I felt very comfortable pushing on every stage, and with two stage wins and getting close on the others it’s been really positive. I continued to push with the setup we had, and it’s been working well. Tomorrow will be a difficult day, so I will keep my head down and focus on pushing in the wet.”

Ott Tänak

“We are nowhere on this rally. There’s still one day to go, and that’s the best we can do. We’re almost three minutes behind, so it’s going to be hard to find any opportunity when the rain comes.”

Thierry Neuville

“The failure happened on the road section before the start of the stage, similar to Shakedown, so we will have to investigate. It was very disappointing, because we wanted to use today to get more mileage and try different things, and unfortunately it wasn’t to be. Tomorrow will be a different day with the rain, but we don’t want to risk our chances of Super Sunday points in those conditions.”

 

Oliver Solberg

“Another great day today,” said Oliver. “I’m not so sure there’s much more to say… The fans have been amazing again and the car has been even better!

“Elliott and me have been really working hard to focus on taking as much experience as possible from this event and these roads – we have to be ready for next year. These roads are really technical, so twisty and so much to understand with the way the grip works and evolves. We’ve taken a lot of data and experience for the tyre.

“And tomorrow, we hear there’s a lot of rain coming, this will give us some very different conditions and the chance to learn more.”

Sunday

The final day will see the crews tackle 72km’s over seven stages. Rain is due to fall throughout the day bringing an extra dimension to the challenge for the crews. Can Elfyn use this to his advantage to take victory, or will we see Seb win this rally? What can Kalle do to keep him in the fight for the title as he begins his last day of rallying on tarmac?