For immediate release
Sunday, May 18th, 2025

OGIER BREAKS HIS OWN RECORD WITH SEVENTH WIN IN PORTUGAL

MATOSINHOS (PORTUGAL): The French duo of Sébastien Ogier and Vincent Landais claimed an 8.7-second victory in the 58th Vodafone Rally of Portugal on Sunday.

The eight-time World Champion continued his remarkable run of WRC achievements with a record-breaking seventh win at the iconic event and a 63rd career WRC win. Landais duly secured his eighth WRC success and a fifth successive win of the season for the Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team. Toyotas has now won for the last six seasons in Portugal.

The outcome could have been very different had Hyundai rivals Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja not suffered a power steering failure on Saturday afternoon.

Ogier said: “I think it is something that I can be proud of to be competitive after all these years, The car was great all weekend. On our side, we proved one more time that race management is a craft we have. Happy, seven times in Portugal is not too bad. The crowd here was pushing me from the recce. It was a tough fight with Ott. It was not fair with his problem. It is not only about being quick in rally.”

The Estonian led the event from the second to the 16th stage and then set a string of fastest times as he staged a remarkable comeback on Sunday. Tänak won half of the 24 specials to Ogier’s five in his Hyundai i20 N, overhauled double World Champion Kalle Rovanperä on the penultimate speed test and eventually finished second overall, winning ‘Super Sunday’s’ stages and the Wolf Power Stage into the bargain.

Tänak said: “I must say today was on the edge all day. After yesterday’s disappointment it was coming back with the second or coming back with the steering wheel!”

Behind third-placed Rovanperä and his co-driver Jonne Halttunen, defending World Champion Thierry Neuville pushed hard in a bid to close the gap on World Championship leader Elfyn Evans in the Drivers’ Championship. But the Belgian struggled with road position and grip and had to settle for fourth place.

Japan’s Takamoto Katsuta survived a scare when he clouted a banking at speed on the penultimate stage to secure fifth and Evans pushed hard over Sunday’s six stages to overhaul Toyota team-mate Sami Pajari to seal sixth.

M-Sport Ford’s Pumas struggled to match their rivals on the first real gravel event of the WRC season. Irishman Josh McErlean was the best of the bunch in eighth place, with Luxembourg team-mate Grégoire Munster taking ninth. A three-minute time penalty and a puncture had ruined Mārtiņš Sesks’s chances on Friday.

Hyundai withdrew Adrien Fourmaux for precautionary reasons before the final stage after the Frenchman had suffered overheating issues. He was out of contention in any case after retiring the i20 with a steering arm failure on Friday.

Tenth-placed Oliver Solberg dominated the WRC2 category in his Toyota GR Yaris. The Swede controlled the competitive second tier section from the outset and finished 51.3 seconds in front of the championship-leading Frenchman Yohan Rossel (Citroën C3).

He said: “Finally. No doughnuts this time. It was fantastic. Friday, I tried to do maximum and control the rest of the rally. It was a long weekend but great fun. The fans are unbelievable. I have never seen so many people in my life. My dad (Petter) is not here. It’s the first time he has not been on the rally.”

Rossel managed to pass Gus Greensmith (Škoda Fabia RS) on the final morning, while Finn Roope Korhonen (Toyota Yaris) was a distant fourth and won the FIA WRC2 Challenger section.

Australia’s Taylor Gill came under pressure from Swede Mille Johansson on the final morning but managed to hang on to take a second victory in the FIA Junior WRC category. Multiple stage wins kept runner-up Johansson firmly in contention for the title after two rounds, despite a roll on day one. Turk Kerem Kazaz finished third. Gill also won the WRC3 category.

Portugal’s Pedro Meireles secured victory in the FIA WRC Master Cup for Drivers section, while three-time former Rally of Portugal winner Armindo Araùjo was the leading local driver at the finish in 26th overall.

58th Vodafone Rally of Portugal – positions after SS24:

  1. Sébastien Ogier (FRA)/Vincent Landais (FRA) Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 3hr 48min 35.9sec
  2. Ott Tänak (EST)/Martin Järveoja (EST) Hyundai i20 N Rally1 3hr 48min 44.6sec
  3. Kalle Rovanperä (FIN)/Jonne Halttunen (FIN) Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 3hr 48min 48.1sec
  4. Thierry Neuville (BEL)/Martijn Wydaeghe (BEL) Hyundai i20 N Rally1 3hr 49min 14.4sec
  5. Takamoto Katsuta (JPN)/Aaron Johnston (IRL) Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 3hr 50min 17.8sec
  6. Elfyn Evans (GBR)/Scott Martin (GBR) Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 3hr 51min 06.9sec
  7. Sami Pajari (FIN)/Marko Salminen (FIN) Toyota GR Yaris Rally 3hr 51min 14.2sec
  8. Joshua McErlean (IRL)/Eoin Treacy (IRL) Ford Puma Rally1 3hr 53min 48.2sec
  9. Grégoire Munster (LUX)/Louis Louka (BEL) Ford Puma Rally1 3hr 54min 33.4sec
  10. Oliver Solberg (SWE)/Elliott Edmondson (GBR) Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 3hr 57min 51.0sec
  11. Yohan Rossel (FRA)/Arnaud Dunand (FRA) Citroën C3 Rally2 3hr 58min 42.8sec
  12. Gus Greensmith (GBR)/Jonas Andersson (SWE) Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 3hr 58min 59.2sec

Rally leaders

SS1                     Elfyn Evans

SS2-16                Ott Tänak

SS17-24              Sébastien Ogier

Stage winners

SS1                     Elfyn Evans

SS2                     Ott Tänak

SS3                     Ott Tänak

SS4                     Adrien Fourmaux

SS5                     Adrien Fourmaux

SS6                     Sébastien Ogier

SS7                     Takamoto Katsuta

SS8                     Thierry Neuville

SS9                     Ott Tänak

SS10                   Sébastien Ogier

SS11                   Ott Tänak

SS12                   Sébastien Ogier

SS13                   Sébastien Ogier

SS14                   Ott Tänak

SS15                   Ott Tänak

SS16                   Ott Tänak

SS17                   Kalle Rovanperä

SS18                   Sébastien Ogier

SS19                   Kalle Rovanperä

SS20                   Ott Tänak

SS21                   Ott Tänak

SS22                   Ott Tänak

SS23                   Ott Tänak

SS24                   Ott Tänak

Ends

 

 

Published On: 18 May 2025