Thierry Neuville scored his first World Rally Championship victory of the season at the final attempt, winning Rally Saudi Arabia as Sébastien Ogier succeeded him as world champion.
Neuville topped the 14th and final event of the year by 54.7 seconds over Hyundai team-mate Adrien Fourmaux, with Ogier 8.6s further behind.
“Very special,” Neuville said. “Honestly it has been a super tough season but to finish with an unexpected victory is obviously a great feeling. We are super happy the family was here to support.
“Next season arrives fast, we have a lot of work ahead of us. It’s a tough challenge but we will try to keep fighting to have a better year next year. ”
M-Sport returnee Mãrtiņš Sesks led the rally heading into Saturday’s final leg, after Adrien Fourmaux was handed a one-minute time penalty for checking into Friday’s final time control one minute early.
While Hyundai is investigating that matter with the rally organizers, Fourmaux still achieved a career best result of second.
Out front though, team-mate Neuville set about capitalizing on his opportunity. Outpacing Sesks by 5.4s on the first stage of the day, the outgoing world champion moved into the lead by 2.0s, then suddenly found himself 54.7s clear as it all kicked off on SS16.
Sesks suffered two punctures, then got a technical issue which led to him retiring for the powerstage, Takamoto Katsuta (who had been third) ran wide and rolled his Toyota on the soft sand to fall to fifth and Kalle Rovanperä stopped to change a puncture too, allowing Ogier to soar from sixth to third and Fourmaux back onto the podium in second.
Rovanperä’s stop had major implications in the title race, as Ogier gained an extra position, and therefore more points, relative to title rival Elfyn Evans who was sixth.
Evans eventually lost the championship to Ogier by four points, despite giving it his all to win the powerstage.
Pajari recovered to finish fourth after a puncture on Friday ruined his victory bid, while Grégoire Munster came home eighth for M-Sport ahead of team-mate Josh McErlean and Oliver Solberg who completed the top 10 in his Rally2 car.
Rovanperä finished the final WRC rally of his career in seventh, eventually finishing 37 points adrift of championship winner Ogier. As they crossed the line, co-driver Jonne Halttunen couldn’t hide the tears.
“It has been quite amazing,” Rovanperä reflected. “I have to say big thank you to Jonne of course first, we’ve had such good times together – good results but mostly I’ll remember all the fun times.
“Thank you to every single person who has been on the journey with us. Special thanks to Toyota for all these great last years, and of course all the supporters since the first day. Thank you to all the competitors for all the fights. And congratulations to Séb on the title, he really deserves it this year.”
Ott Tänak also says goodbye to the WRC (at least for now) after Saudi Arabia, but finished outside the top 10 after two punctures on Friday led to his retirement to give him more service time ahead of the final day.
“I’m still super grateful for the sport, even though it’s difficult times in the sport,” Tänak said. “It’s been very painful for my family who allowed me to chase my dream for so long. I’ve never even attended a single one of my daughter’s birthdays, but I am there for them now.”
