JEDDAH — Sebastien Ogier clinched a ninth World Rally Championship title, drawing level with fellow Frenchman Sebastien Loeb for the record number of crowns.
Ogier secured the championship by finishing third at the season-ending Rally Saudi Arabia, narrowly edging out Toyota teammate Elfyn Evans for the title.
The achievement was even more impressive as Ogier competed this season as a part-time entrant, skipping three of the 14 rounds, AFP reported.
Evans had arrived in Jeddah leading the standings by three points, but his bid for a maiden WRC crown—after four runner-up finishes—was derailed by a costly puncture.
The setback came on the 11th special stage, extinguishing Evans’ hopes of finally claiming the World Rally Championship.
“We had a puncture alarm right at the beginning,” said Evans. “It was going down quite slow but it was so far to go that we had to make a decision to change it where we could. Not ideal.”
Evans came to Saudi Arabia with a three-point lead over Ogier in the standings but if things remain the same it will be the Frenchman, who is now provisionally two points ahead of the Briton, who will take the title.
If Ogier does triumph it will be quite remarkable in that he has skipped four events in the 14-rally season.
It would also mark a ninth title, which would see him equal the record set by another French legend, Loeb.
“I didn’t want to take too many risks this morning, especially after Elfyn had a puncture,” said Ogier.
“But it doesn’t change anything for us. The goal is to stay ahead of Kalle (Rovanpera) who is right behind us.”
Rovanpera, who still has an outside chance of landing the title, also carried a slow puncture on stage 11 but did enough to consolidate eighth overall.
The rock-strewn tests, however, mean Ogier can take nothing for granted on Friday afternoon and Saturday.
Another Frenchman Adrien Fourmaux (Hyundai) still leads by 2.9sec ahead of Martins Sesks (M-Sport/Ford) but the top four, which also includes Sami Pajari (Toyota) and Ott Tanak (Hyundai), are separated by only 9.2sec.
“It’s very intense, we saw two punctures in the last special stage,” said Fourmaux.
“I’m actually surprised there aren’t more, given how hard my rivals are pushing and taking risks.
“I’m really trying to avoid punctures so I’m losing a little time on some corners but that’s my strategy and I’m sticking to it. I’m still in the lead, so that’s good.”
