Sébastien Ogier wins the Catalan Rally, Toyota crowned

The exceptional talent of Sébastien Ogier (Toyota) gave to his Rally of Catalonia 2022 feels like a walk in the park. However, the eight-time world rally champion (WRC) avoided the pitfalls of the 19 special stages contested on abrasive and fast asphalt, reaching peaks of nearly 190 km/h. It is precisely this apparent ease and relaxation that we recognize a great champion.

#RallyRACC winners! 🇪🇸🙌🏻🏆#WRC @TGR_WRC pic.twitter.com/pO2tbcY59p

- Sébastien Ogier (@SebOgier) October 23, 2022

The Frenchman, who until Sunday October 23 had not won a victory this year, finally succeeded after five attempts. It didn't go far at Monte-Carlo last winter (only beaten by another legend, Sébastien Loeb), nor in New Zealand (2nd in order to allow Kalle Rovanperä to be crowned). In Catalonia, the Gapençais took the lead from the fifth special, Friday afternoon, never to leave it again.

Sébastien Ogier thus makes Catalonia one of his favorite gardens, with this fourth success (after 2013, 14 and 16 on Volkswagen), as many as in Sardinia. This is his 55th success in WRC, his eighth for Toyota Gazoo Racing. In total, the semi-retired rally driver recorded a World Cup victory in a seventh different vehicle, in this case the Toyota Yaris Rally1 Hybrid! It is also the first victory for Benjamin Veillas as co-driver of Sébastien Ogier in the WRC.

The podium is completed by Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) who had a more convincing second half of the rally than the newly crowned Drivers' world champion, Kalle Rovanperä, who ended up third. The latter was certainly not helped by a puncture in SS17.

Final classification Rally de Catalunya 2022:

Thanks to this result, as well as the points scored during the Power Stage, Toyota won the Manufacturers' title. The Japanese firm now has six (1993, 94, 99, 2018, 21, 22).

MANUFACTURERS' WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONS 2022! 🙌

Thank you to all of our partners and fans for the support to make this season possible! 🙏#ToyotaGAZOORacing #GRYaris #WRC #RallyRACC #PushingTheLimitsForBetter pic.twitter.com/qbzgkFTc7a

- TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT (@TGR_WRC) October 23, 2022

M-Sport Ford transparent

In a no man's land, Ott Tänak (Hyundai) finished at the foot of the podium, ahead of Dani Sordo (Hyundai), who got back on track despite a timid start to the rally. Elfyn Evans and Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota) had an uneventful rally, apart from two punctures each.

Like a clear presentation of the forces present, the clan M-Sport Ford places its Ford Puma behind all Hyundais and Toyotas. No driver weighed in on the progress of the race. Gus Greensmith made a mistake on Saturday, Craig Breen suffered a puncture, as did Pierre-Louis Loubet. Adrien fourmaux remained wise for his return to the World Cup, two months after his accident in Ypres (Belgium).

In WRC2, Teemu Suninen (Hyundai) won ahead of Frenchman Yohan Rossel (Citroën). This is guaranteed to remain in the WRC antechamber thanks to the support of Citroën Racing in 2023. For the title, nothing has been decided. Absent in Catalonia and Japan for the final, Andreas Mikkelsen (Skoda) remains in contention since Emil Lindholm (Skoda) and Kajetan Kajetanowicz (Skoda) do not reach the podium. However, the Finn and the Pole remain mathematically in contention for the crown in the Land of the Rising Sun in November, as they will take part in the Rally Japan.

Finally, in the RGT, Manu Guigou brings Alpine class victory. The brand with the arrowed A even signs a double thanks to the second position of gentleman driver Philippe Baffoun.

Find out in the next issue of AUTOhebdo, available Monday evening digitally and Wednesday on newsstands, analysis of the WRC in Catalonia by our special correspondent.

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Drivers’ World Championship:

Manufacturers’ World Championship: