Ogier is world champion! Relive the final day of the Saudi Arabia Rally with our live text commentary.

It's the big day! The World Rally Championship will reach its conclusion after ten months of competition in Saudi Arabia. Elfyn Evans, Sébastien Ogier and Kalle Rovanperä, all three pilots Toyota, face off one last time to decide who will be world champion, over the last three special stages of the season.

At the end of Saturday, Ogier is sixth in the overall standings. rallyOne place behind Rovanperä, but two ahead of Evans. This effectively gives the Frenchman the virtual crown, with a slim one-point lead over the Welshman. However, in addition to three tricky special stages on a rally that has been full of twists and turns, the drivers will battle for points in the day's standings and on the Power Stage. The name of the world champion could therefore only be known in the very last second…

Follow the evolution of the rankings with live timing.

WRC – Saudi Arabia Rally
Le program you samedi

7:05pm – SS15 – Thahban 1 (16,29 km) – Adrien fourmaux
8:21pm – SS16 – Asfan (33,28 km) – Sébastien Ogier
11:15pm – SS17 – Thaban 2 (16,29 km) – Elfyn Evans

WRC – Saudi Arabia Rally
Follow the day's events in live text

12:12 PM – The final standings for the 2025 Saudi Arabia Rally. Thank you all for following this final live broadcast of the season. WRC See you in 2026 for the Monte Carlo Rally!

12h09 - Thierry Neuville He crosses the finish line. The Belgian finally wins a rally this season!

12h05 - Adrien fourmaux That's it. The Frenchman will finish at worst second in this rally, which would be his best result in the WRC.

12:04 PM – This is Sébastien Ogier's ninth title, equaling Sébastien's record LoebThis is the first title for his co-driver Vincent Landais.

12:03 PM – 💬 Sébastien Ogier, 2025 WRC World Champion: « What a season, what a battle with Elfyn and Scott! You can only be a great champion with great rivals, and they were truly excellent, pushing us to the limit right up to the last stage of the season. Well done guys, well done to the whole team too, this season has truly been a success, I'm very proud to be part of this family. »

12:00 – Sébastien Ogier finishes 7.2 seconds behind Evans… but that's enough for him to be crowned world champion!

11h58 - Ogier is losing time to Evans…

11h56 - Sami Pajari finishes while Adrien Fourmaux takes the start.

11h52 - Ogier is currently third, one second behind Evans.

11:49 am – Sébastien Ogier and Vincent Landais set off!

11:47 – Evans almost makes a mistake in the last corner but the Welshman sets the fastest time with a 9.7!

11h45 - Elfyn Evans launches an all-out attack as she tries to turn around a severely compromised situation.

11:43pm – Kalle Rovanperä finishes his last rally before moving on to the carThe Finn is beaten by Ott Tänak.

11h40 - Takamoto Katsuta is at the start despite his roll in SS16. The Japanese driver is starting without a front windscreen.

11h38 - Evans is ahead of Tänak.

11:36 AM – Elfyn Evans is on the track!

11h35 - It was a close call for Josh McErlean, who nearly rolled over in the final corner!

11h33 - Note the retirement of Frenchman Pablo Sarrazin (Citroën) in Rally2.

11h31 - In his last full-time rally, Ott Tänak finished with a time of 11:04.6.

11h28 - Nasser Al-Attiyah is the first to finish. The Dakar specialist will logically be beaten.

11h27 - This Power Stage is much more complex than SS16. Anything can happen in these 16,29 km.

11h24 - The first drivers are on track, including Ott Tänak.

11:22 AM – The Power Stage of the Saudi Arabia Rally is underway! Sébastien Ogier has a five-point lead over Elfyn Evans. 

10:02 AM – The SS16 standings have been updated. Hampered by the dust at Sesks, Adrien Fourmaux has been credited with time and moves up to second place overall ahead of Sébastien Ogier.

9h48 - Let's take advantage of the break to talk about Rally2. Robert Virves set the fastest time, while Oliver Solberg still leads the overall standings. Entered as a non-championship driver for this round, the Swede relinquishes the WRC2 lead to Gus Greensmith.

9h16 - Here are the Rally1 standings after SS16, as well as the overall standings. Ogier is on track for a ninth title! See you at 11:15 for the Power Stage.

9h15 - Sesks is finally finished; he has lost all hope of victory.

9h13 - Adrien Fourmaux confirms that he covered about ten kilometers in the dust of Sesks. The Latvian rider restarted after his second puncture.

9:12 AM – 💬 Rovanperä was furious upon arrival: « What a fucking shitty show! »

9:11 am – Adrien Fourmaux finishes with only the ninth fastest time!

9:07 AM – Sébastien Ogier will move up to second in the overall standings!

9:05 – Spin and another puncture for Sesks.

9h05 - Thierry Neuville finished second behind Ogier. The Belgian is well on his way to winning the Saudi Arabian Rally, given the misfortunes of his competitors.

9h04 - Katsuta reached the finish line after his rollover, but his Toyota is in bad shape!

9h03 - Adrien Fourmaux is on track but is in the dust at Sesks. A lot of time already lost for the Frenchman.

9:01 a.m. – Takamoto Katsuta appears to have gone into a barrel roll.

8:59pm – Sesks has left, while Rovanperä is taking his time.

8:58 a.m. – After several kilometers on his flat tire, Kalle Rovanperä stops. Mārtiņš Sesks also stops.

8:57 AM – 💬 Sébastien Ogier : " A good attack. A bit on the edge. Too many straight lines for me! »

8:56 AM – 3:40:9 PM for Sébastien Ogier at the finish! The Frenchman finishes ahead of Pajari and will move ahead of Rovanperä in the standings!

8:53 am – Sami Pajari sets the fastest time at the finish ahead of Evans, and Ogier is ahead of the Finn!

8:52 AM – 💬 Evans defeated at the finish: « My race wasn't brilliant. I struggled all weekend in the sand and it wasn't any better here. »

8h51 - Rovanperä does not stop despite his puncture on the front left.

8:50 a.m. – Evans finishes with the best time in 15:48.8.

8:49 AM – Flat tire for Rovanperä!

8h48 - Kalle Rovanperä is on the track and the Finn's pace is quite slow at the start of this stage. Can Ogier take advantage of this to overtake him in the overall standings?

8h46 - Ogier is leading the special stage after 12 kilometers!

8:44 a.m. – 💬 Nasser Al-Attiyah is much more enthusiastic than Tänak at the finish of this special stage: A really fast and enjoyable stage. We're thrilled. There's still one more stage to go, and we're very happy to be participating in this rally. Thank you to the WRC and Saudi Arabia. »

8h43 - Al-Attiyah finished more than 17 seconds behind Tänak. Evans is ahead, as is Ogier.

8h40 - 💬 Ott Tänak doubtful upon arrival at this special stage: "It'sSuper straight. Very long straight stretches. Probably good for the Dakar Rally, I don't know. It's simply straight ahead. »

8:39 am – Sébastien Ogier and Vincent Landais set off!

8h38 - So far, everything is going well for the riders on the track. Tänak is the first to finish in over 16 minutes.

8h36 - After Evans, another Toyota driver takes the start with Sami Pajari.

8:33 am – And here's the championship leader before this event, Elfyn Evans, taking off!

8h32 - Grégoire Munster also took part in this penultimate special stage.

8h28 - Josh McErlean is the next to take to the track.

8h25 - Nasser Al-Attiyah is the second to set off for these 33 kilometers.

8h23 - Ott Tänak is the first on track on this longest special stage of this Saudi Arabia Rally, run only once.

8:21 a.m. – Here we go for the penultimate special of this 2025 season!

8h04 - See you in about twenty minutes for SS16, which is 33,28 kilometers long.

8h01 - The Saudi Arabia Rally continues in about twenty minutes with SS16; in the meantime, why not start watching our exclusive interview with the driver of WEC Theo Pourchaire ?

7h53 - The overall standings, with Thierry Neuville now in the lead.

7h52 - The standings at the end of this fifteenth special stage, the result of this SS15 also being that of Super Sunday for the moment, Sébastien Ogier has a virtual two-point lead over Elfyn Evans in the championship.

7h50 - ???? Adrien Fourmaux: "It's a shame about the penalty, but that's how it is. I have only one mission: to get back on the podium, and we'll see about the rest. I don't know what happened yesterday either!"

7h50 - Adrien Fourmaux finishes with the fastest time on the special stage, 3,4 seconds ahead of Kalle Rovanperä! The Frenchman is now 6,2 seconds behind Katsuta in the fight for the podium.

7:47 AM – 💬 Martins Sesks: "We didn't take any risks in this stage, so it's okay to have this gap. We'll see if we can be less cautious in the next ones!"

7h47 - Martin Sesks finishes, conceding 5,4 seconds to Thierry Neuville, officially the new rally leader! Two seconds ahead for the Belgian.

7:45 a.m. – 💬 Thierry Neuville: "I did my best, but my shock absorbers don't work well when the temperature rises; I lose control of the car, I have no stability at the rear. There will be fewer bumps on the next stage, that should help."

7h44 - Thierry Neuville finishes, just six-tenths of a second behind Rovanperä. Based on Sesks' intermediate times, the Belgian could take the rally lead.

7h42 - Adrien Fourmaux, although fourth in the overall standings following his penalty, is indeed the last to start, as the starting order has not changed. His rivals for the podium therefore cannot know his time upon arriving at the stop point.

7:42 a.m. – 💬 Takamoto Katsuta: "I didn't feel that good in the special stage, I'll have to do better. I don't know what time Adrien will be able to achieve, so we'll see."

7h41 - Takamoto Katsuta finishes with the fourth fastest time, 6,5 seconds behind Rovanperä, and behind the two title contenders.

7h38 - 💬 Kalle Rovanperä: "It went pretty well, the next special stage will be tough on the tires, this one was quite technical and tricky on the jumps, I don't really like having to attack the jumps because the landings are quite violent!"

7h37 - Very nice run from Kalle Rovanperä, even if his chances of the title are very slim today, 4,7 seconds ahead of Ogier, fastest time.

7:36 AM – 💬 Sébastien Ogier: "It was a clean special for us; if we don't encounter any problems, it could be close! I'm as confident as possible with this lottery, but we'll deal with it!"

7:35 am – And Sébastien Ogier finally takes the best time with a tenth of a second lead!

7h34 - Ogier is now four tenths of a second behind Evans at the penultimate intermediate checkpoint!

7h33 - ???? Sami Pajari: « It's an interesting fight for the title, all around us! It's very different today compared to previous days, but we'll continue to learn; there's not much more we can do.

7h32 - After twelve kilometers, Ogier and Evans have the same time!

7h32 - Sami Pajari finished 7,9 seconds behind, but the Finn still has more than two minutes' lead over Evans in the rally.

7:29 AM – 💬 Elfyn Evans: "I'm not too confident, but we'll do our best. We haven't really had the rhythm all weekend, but that could change today."

7h29 - Kalle Rovanperä then takes off.

7h28 - Elfyn Evans sets the fastest time on the special stage, with an 8,9 second lead over Tänak!

7:27 AM – 💬 Grégoire Munster: "Louis (Louka) and I just want to have fun, but there are already some issues that have surfaced, so we need to start being careful."

7h27 - Sébastien Ogier has started the special stage!

7h26 - Grégoire Munster finished 11,8 seconds behind at the finish of this fifteenth special stage.

7:24 – 💬 Josh McErlean: « The special stage went fairly well; it was a bit tricky at times, but we managed. Both contenders have to go all out, so they're taking the risks they have to take!

7h23 - Josh McErlean finishes, four seconds behind Tänak.

7h22 - It's worth noting that all the drivers opted for two spare wheels… except for Elfyn Evans and Sébastien Ogier! A bold decision considering what's happened since the start of the rally!

7h21 - ???? Nasser Al-Attiyah: "I'm being careful because my co-driver has a really bad back and I'm taking care of him! I made two mistakes, it's very slippery and you have to be careful."

7h21 - The first contender for the title, Elfyn Evans, takes off!

7h20 - Nasser Al-Attiyah finishes 35 seconds behind, a big gap for the Qatari.

7h18 - ???? Ott Tänak: "It's very slippery, very tricky. But it's a shame there weren't any rocks to puncture our tires!" The 2019 world champion has therefore chosen sarcasm for his last day of the season!

7h17 - First time across the line, 11:13.7 for Ott Tänak, the Estonian almost lost everything in the last few kilometers, but he managed to pull through! Grégoire Munster enters the special stage.

7h13 - Josh McErlean is off!

7h12 - Unsurprisingly, Ott Tänak is cleaning a lot, there is a nice layer of sand on the track, on a base that seems more solid in some places, but which could also reveal stones before the second pass later, for the Power Stage.

7h09 - Five-time Dakar winner Nasser Al-Attiyah takes his turn in the special stage.

7h09 - Tänak arrives at the 5,1km mark, the Estonian is competing in his last day in the WRC before the break he has decided to take for 2026.

7h07 - ☀️ The sun is shining, it's already 26°C (at 9am local time), and the temperature is only going to keep rising!

7h06 -  After a flat first section, the special stage heads into the mountains and will end with a particularly winding section.

7h05 - 🟢 The fifteenth special stage of this rally is underway, Ott Tänak is taking to the track!

7h04 - Ott Tänak will very quickly launch the final day of this Saudi Arabia Rally, with the 16,29km Thahban special stage.

7h02 - Following the one-minute penalty for Adrien Fourmaux, Martins Sesks now leads the Saudi Arabia Rally, ahead of the reigning world champion, Thierry Neuville, and Takamoto Katsuta.

7am – 👋 Hello everyone, welcome to AUTOhebdo.fr to follow live the final day of the Saudi Arabia Rally… and the final day of the WRC season!