Saudi Arabia Rally – SS8: Back in the championship lead, Sébastien Ogier finishes in style

Although it started with difficulty, the first day of the Rally of Saudi Arabia WRC 2025 ends rather well for Sébastien Ogier, who secured his first stage win at the Moment-Orient Rally, while also virtually regaining the championship lead by a single point. Indeed, his 7th place overall (6 points) would allow him to score four more points than Elfyn Evans (9th provisionally – 2 points), the championship leader before this rally.

As things stand, and bearing in mind that the Super Sunday and Power Stage will also award points to the drivers, the Frenchman is gradually closing in on his coveted ninth title. Another important factor is that the starting order, which penalized the two WRC leaders, will change this Friday. The drivers will start in the order determined by today's results. This situation could benefit Sébastien Ogier and his Toyotawho could gain places in the top 6.

Behind the Frenchman, Mārtiņš Sesks and Ott Tänak complete the top 3 in SS8. The Latvian driver is now less than a second behind second place in the Rally, held by Sami Pajari after the first day. At the top of the overall standings, we still find... Adrien fourmauxSeventh in the evening's super special stage, the Frenchman retains the lead in the event by six seconds over the Finn.

Fourth in the eighth special stage, and fifth overall, Thierry Neuville concedes a tenth to Ott Tänak, whose fourth place he covets.

In WRC2, Oliver Solberg finished the first day of the Saudi Arabia Rally with a 1 minute and 20 second lead over Roope Korhonen. Nicolay Gryazin completed the provisional top 3, 1 minute and 48 seconds behind.

Join us at 06:25 AM this Friday to follow the first special stage of day two of the WRC Saudi Arabia Rally live on AUTO.hebdo.com.

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WRC – Saudi Arabia Rally 

The classification of SS8:

The general classification after SS8: