Sebastien Ogier Takes Seventh Rally Portugal Victory

Sebastien Ogier secures a record-extending seventh Rally Portugal victory, finishing 8.7 seconds ahead of Ott Tänak.

Sebastien Ogier secured a record-extending seventh win at the Rally Portugal, finishing with a total time of 3h48:35.9. He edged out Ott Tänak by a mere 8.7 seconds, with Kalle Rovanperä trailing behind by 12.2 seconds. Ogier's victory was marked by drama, as he inherited the lead after Tänak's power steering failure on Saturday's penultimate stage, Amarante 2, cost him over 45 seconds.

Tänak had dominated the rally since Friday morning, winning three consecutive stages and rebuilding a double-digit advantage. However, his i20 N Rally1's power steering issue forced him to wrestle the car to the finish, ultimately relinquishing the lead to Ogier. The eight-time world champion now leads the rally by 27.6 seconds heading into Sunday's six-stage finale wasn't enough to catch Ogier, who managed to keep his lead intact despite Tänak's best efforts to regain ground.

Ogier's win catapulted him to third in the championship standings, just 22 points behind second place and 30 points behind leader Elfyn Evans. Evans retained the top spot with 118 points despite finishing sixth in the rally. Tänak's second-place finish and Rovanperä's third-place finish kept them in contention for the championship.

Sébastien Ogier and Vincent Landais strike again! Another masterclass in Portugal and a record-extending seventh win for Ogier 🏆#WRC | #RallydePortugal 🇵🇹 pic.twitter.com/2JA31T7UaO

— FIA World Rally Championship (@OfficialWRC) May 18, 2025

Sebastien Ogier sealed his seventh Rally Portugal victory after holding onto his 27.6-second lead heading into the final day. With co-driver Vincent Landais, Ogier navigated the stages with precision, ultimately finishing 8.7 seconds ahead of Ott Tänak despite the Estonian's late rally push. Kalle Rovanperä completed the podium, finishing a further 3.5 seconds behind Tänak in third place. This win marked Ogier's second victory of the season, following his triumph in Monte Carlo.

“I think it's something I can be proud of, the way I have managed to stay competitive after all these years,” Ogier, 41, said.

“Ott was just flying (like) crazy, but maybe a bit too much actually ... On our side, race management is definitely a craft we have, so I'm happy. Seven times here in Portugal, not too bad.”

Ott Tänak pushed hard on the final day, but ultimately ran out of stages to catch Sebastien Ogier, who took the win. Tänak expressed his disappointment, saying, “A great disappointment, we are still too fragile to compete with Toyota. But at least the performance on the new chassis is good, so at least we've done some good job.” Meanwhile, Toyota extended its winning streak to five rounds with Ogier's victory. In the championship standings, Elfyn Evans retained the lead but saw his advantage cut to 30 points over Kalle Rovanperä, while Ogier moved to third and Tänak remained fourth.