Toyota Gazoo Racing trio faces World Rally Championship decider 

Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team drivers Elfyn Evans, Sébastien Ogier and Kalle Rovanperä will face off to be crowned world champion when the all-new Rally Saudia Arabia stages the final and deciding round of the 2025 FIA World Rally Championship next week (26-29 November). 

This has been a record-breaking year for TGR-WRT: their 12 wins from the 13 rounds held so far equal the best tally achieved by a manufacturer in a single season. Having already clinched a fifth consecutive manufacturers’ title, the team are now preparing for three of its crews to battle one last time to win the drivers’ and co-drivers’ crowns. 

In pursuit of their first world titles, Evans and co-driver Scott Martin currently lead the standings following an highly consistent campaign to this point, in which they have finished every rally inside the top six. That has included two wins and six other podiums, with four successive second places in the last four events. 

Just three points behind after winning a tight battle with Evans for victory on the previous event at Rally Japan, Ogier has a chance to achieve a record-equalling ninth world championship and a first for co-driver Vincent Landais. Together they have been on the podium in nine of the 10 rounds they have started this year, winning six of them. 

Also in contention to claim what would be a third world title are Rovanperä and his co-driver Jonne Halttunen. After three wins and two other podiums this season, Rovanperä will hope to be able to close a deficit of 24 points in what will be his final WRC start before he makes a groundbreaking switch to compete in single-seater circuit racing with the support of TGR next year. 

The Saudi Arabia line-up of GR Yaris Rally1 cars also includes Takamoto Katsuta and Aaron Johnston and the TGR-WRT2 crew of Sami Pajari and Marko Salminen, fresh from taking their maiden WRC podium at Rally Japan.  

For the final round of the season, the four main TGR-WRT entries will once more be decked out in the silver livery previously used for the European summer rallies. As well as proving popular with fans, the lighter shade helps to keep the cars and crews cooler between stages by reflecting more of the heat from the sun, which will form part of the considerable challenge on the WRC’s first visit to Saudi Arabia. 

Based in the city of Jeddah, the event provides a trip into the unknown for the crews with organisers promising a mix of mountain, volcano and desert terrain. Some of the gravel roads are expected to be relatively smooth and fast with a hard base, while desert sections will be softer and others will be rough and rocky. This character can change within each stage, requiring a compromise in both car setup and driving style between speed and reliability. 

The service park is located close to the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. The rally will start nearby on Wednesday evening with an asphalt super special stage. The same test is run again at the end of Thursday, following two loops of three stages to the north. Friday is the longest day of the rally, with 88 competitive miles driven across another two loops of three stages. The rally ends on Saturday following three tests including two passes of Thahban – the second pass serving as a potentially decisive season-ending Power Stage. 

Nine GR Yaris Rally2 cars are entered for Rally Saudi Arabia: more than any other car. This year’s WRC2 champion Oliver Solberg – recently confirmed for a TGR-WRT Rally1 drive in 2026 – pilots his Printsport-entered car with a chance to gain valuable knowledge of the event. Those registered to compete for WRC2 points include Roope Korhonen of Rautio Motorsport, Teo Martín Motorsport drivers Jan Solans, Alejandro Cachón and Diego Domínguez, Kajetan Kajetanowicz with Rallylab Technology and Fabio Schwarz (Armin Schwarz Driving Experience). Joining the GR Yaris Rally2 ranks for this event are Saudi driver Hamza Bakhashab – whose father Abdullah drove Toyota cars in the WRC from 1998 to 2002 – and Spaniard Miguel Díaz-Aboitiz with the Calm Competició team. 

Team Quotes: 
 Juha Kankkunen (Deputy Team Principal): “Rally Saudi Arabia is going to be very interesting as the final round of the championship. It’s so close now between Elfyn and Seb, and I’m sure it will be a big fight between them. Kalle still has a chance as well, and on a new rally like this, anything could happen. We do have some information from the Middle East championship event this year and from what I’ve heard, there should be quite a mix of different stages, with sections similar to roads we have in Greece and other parts that are more open through the desert. There can also be a lot of new things that the team and drivers will need to adapt to during the event. Our goal is to give a strong car to all of our drivers that allows them to fight, and we’ll see which one of them becomes the world champion.” 

Elfyn Evans (driver car 33): “We go to Saudi Arabia knowing that everything is still to play for and very open in the championship. Seb is a tough opponent and performing at a really high level, and Kalle cannot be counted out at this stage either. It will be tough, but we’re going to give it our best shot of course. Nobody really knows what to expect from this event. None of the drivers has done it before and many of the stages are completely new anyway, so it’s basically a clean sheet for all of us. We just have to arrive there, focus on doing the best rally we can, and see what comes.” 

Kalle Rovanperä (driver car 69): “The championship is not really in our hands anymore but we still have a chance, so let’s see how it goes in Saudi Arabia. The stages look to be quite tricky with a lot of rocks around, so there could be a big chance of something happening for any of the drivers. All that we can do is focus on trying to do a good job and get a good result for ourselves, but we would still need the others to have a bad result. Whatever happens, hopefully we can make it a good last rally to finish this chapter in a nice way.” 

Sébastien Ogier (driver car 17): “It was an intense battle with Elfyn for the win at Rally Japan and it was good for us to close the gap in the championship before the final round. It’s been a strong year, I’m happy with the performance we’ve had and I’ve really enjoyed driving the car. Hopefully this all-new rally can be a good and exciting finale to the championship. Nobody has much experience of what the stages are like there, so there’s the potential for a lot of surprises. There could be rough sections with a lot of rocks around, but hopefully the conditions are fair for all of us, and may the best man win!” 

Takamoto Katsuta (driver car 18): “I’m looking forward to discovering Rally Saudi Arabia for the first time. None of us has been there before and from the information we have, it looks like it’s going to be very tough. It could be quite like Kenya in some places, and maybe a similar kind of approach could be needed. That has suited me well in the past, but we need to see what it’s like when we get there. I hope to be able to finish the year with some positive feelings to be able to take into next year, and I’ll try my best like always.” 

Sami Pajari (driver car 5): “It was really nice to achieve our first podium finish at Rally Japan, and it shows that we have been moving in a good direction through this first proper season with the Rally1 car. Now we have something completely new to end the year in Saudi Arabia. Nobody knows really what’s going to happen there, but I’m looking forward to it nonetheless. I would guess that it might be quite like Kenya in some ways – there we took a steady approach that really paid off in the end with a good result – but we need to wait to see exactly what challenges we face.” 

ENDS