Sebastien Ogier produced arguably the best season of his WRC career to date to equal Sebastien Loeb as a nine-time world champion, and assert himself for many as the greatest rally driver of all time.
The feat is even more impressive considering Ogier and co-driver Vincent Landais contested only 11 of the 14 rounds and were up against Elfyn Evans, Kalle Rovanpera, Ott Tanak and 2024 champion Thierry Neuville, all running full-season programmes. It meant a perfect campaign would be required to claim a title that Ogier had no intention of targeting at the start of the year.
But the performances and numbers that Ogier, now 42, produced were simply phenomenal and showed he’s still at the top of his game. The Frenchman won six rallies (Monte Carlo, Portugal, Sardinia, Paraguay, Chile and Japan), three more than any of his rivals. Ogier also topped the stage wins tally with 60.
