Sebastien Ogier wins Rally Japan to tighten gap on Elfyn Evans
9th November 2025Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier has secured the win at Rally Japan, inching closer to Elfyn Evans’ championship lead heading into the season finale.
Feature image credit: Jaanus Ree // Red Bull Content Pool
It was a close fight at the end of the Japanese rally, in a rain-soaked final day, with Ogier and his teammate, Evans, finishing first and second across the rally, Super Sunday and the power stage.
Following Ogier’s win and another second-place podium for Evans, it means Ogier moves ever closer to Evans in the drivers’ standings. The French and British championship rivals are now only separated by three points.
Toyota’s Kalle Rovanpera recovered after his second-day crash to finish the rally in sixth place, behind M-Sport Ford’s Gregoire Munster.
It means all three Toyota championship contenders, Evans, Ogier and Rovanpera, continue the fight for the championship heading into the season finale, in Saudi Arabia.
Evans heads the championship on 272 points, with Ogier just behind on 269 points. Rovanpera rounds out the championship contenders, 24 points behind on 248 points.
However, the final day was not smooth sailing for Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux, who had to retire after the Frenchman slid off the road and into the trees, losing his co-driver’s door in the process and sustaining damage to his Hyundai.
This promoted Toyota’s Sami Pajari into third place on the final day to give the Finnish driver his first-ever WRC podium finish.
So, how did the final day end?
- Sebastien Ogier, Toyota
- Elfyn Evans, Toyota
- Sami Pajari, Toyota
- Ott Tanak, Hyundai
- Gregoire Munster, M-Sport Ford
- Kalle Rovanpera, Toyota
Takamoto Katsuta finished 17th.
Read more WRC here:
- Rovanpera has incident as McErlean crashes on third stage of Rally Japan
- Kalle Rovanpera takes overnight lead of WRC Rally Japan after opening stage
- Evans tops first pass of Rally Japan shakedown as championship rivals remain on heels
- Itinerary: what is the official schedule for WRC Rally Japan?
- Rally Japan: the latest weather forecast ahead of penultimate round
- Rally Saudi Arabia: confirmed entry list ahead of WRC season finale
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
