9 Iconic Moments That Made Seb Ogier A Champion
6 Video Views·Dec 4, 2025
In this video we look back at the moments that built the legend from his first win in Portugal to the fiery rivalry with Loeb, the Volkswagen era of dominance, the M -Sport miracle run, the Toyota titles, and the wild part-time comeback that takes him level with the greatest in WRC history.
In securing an incredible 2025 title,
Sébastien Ogier has now claimed rallying's biggest prize a staggering nine times.
This phenomenal Frenchman has routinely made the seemingly impossible possible
and has been rewriting the rally record books for years.
As you might expect, there have been an absolute
shed load of magnificent achievements scattered throughout his glittering career.
So let's all bow down and relive some of what we would consider to be his biggest.
His second full year at the sport's highest level,
Sébastien Ogier had been turning heads since his debut,
but had yet to deliver on the promise of a first WRC win.
The Frenchman had led large periods of the previous events ran in New Zealand,
but a mistake had turned his dreams to dust.
However, his analysis, in hindsight, seems ominous.
But for us, the most important is that now we are able
on a lot of rally to fight with the best guys.
He would show this at the very next rally.
Ogier took his first career win with a consummate performance.
And to top it all off was rewarded with a mid-season promotion to Citroën's factory team.
To win my first rally like this with a big battle with Seb is perfect.
Ogier would go on to win another rally, Japan, later in 2010.
But it was what happened the next year when sparks started to fly.
His relationship with teammate Sébastien Loeb was about to turn spicy.
Ogier versus Loeb.
Today, they're two titans of the sport.
But back in 2011, it was Loeb with, at the time, seven world titles,
who was clearly the senior man.
But Ogier's performances that season started to ask questions of Citroën's management.
Who really was the main man?
For the time being, it was still Loeb, which hurt Ogier.
And things came to a head at Rally Germany when frustrations between the two reached boiling point.
He would go on to match Loeb's win tally that year, including a memorable Rally Jordan win
where he edged out Jari-Matti Ravle by just 0.2 of a second.
At the time, it was the closest finish in WRC history.
But it was Loeb who would win his eighth title.
Ogier finished that year in third.
Ogier would again be forced to wait, but not for long,
as he decided to leave Citroën to begin a glorious chapter with a brand new manufacturer.
Leaving Citroën certainly turned a few heads,
and driving in the support category in 2012 was certainly unexpected for this clearly rising star.
However, behind the scenes, he was spending his time helping to develop the car
that Volkswagen would enter the WRC with the following year, the VW Polo R WRC.
And from the start of 2013, it was clear the gamble had paid off.
He was simply sensational.
Ogier amassed a stunning nine wins that season
and smashed records on his way to securing his first ever Driver's Championship title.
It was the start of a glorious period of dominance, both for Ogier and Volkswagen.
Ogier and VW were shaping up to echo the untouchable dominance of Loeb and Citroën from the previous decade.
After his 2013 title win, they remained virtually peerless throughout 2014 and 2015,
with successive Driver and Manufacturer titles secured.
This supremacy continued into 2016 as Ogier duly won his fourth consecutive world title,
taking no fewer than six rally wins.
But in a surprising turn of events, VW abruptly announced they would leave the WRC at the end of that year.
Ogier would be forced to look for a new home.
And to everyone's surprise, that home would be M-Sport.
This now privately funded team had tasted plenty of success in the past,
but they hadn't won a Manufacturer's title in over a decade,
and no M-Sport driver had ever won a championship.
Could the arrival of Ogier revive their fortunes?
In short, yes.
He powered to victory at the first Rally of the Year in Monte Carlo,
and though his dominance might not have been quite as spectacular as it was in the VW years,
his consistency certainly was.
Two wins outright, underscored by nine podium finishes,
meant he was crowned world champion for the fifth successive time at Rally GB.
He repeated defeat the following year, too.
A year back with Citroën did not work out the way both parties would have liked,
and there were rumours Ogier was even considering retiring from the sport altogether.
But at the end of 2019, it was announced he would drive for Toyota in the 2020 season.
He only managed second at Monte Carlo that year,
but got back to winning ways at Rally Mexico
before the COVID-19 pandemic brought the world to a standstill.
The WRC were able to complete the season with a reduced number of events,
and by the time the final Rally of the Year got underway in Monza,
it was a two-way shootout for the title between Ogier and teammate Elvin Evans.
Conditions were treacherous up in the mountains, and sadly Evans slid off in the snow.
But in an incredible show of sportsmanship,
he warned the Frenchman who was then able to react to the same patch of ice
and keep his car on the road.
He didn't look back, and duly secured his seventh world title
with no less than his third manufacturer.
With his taste for titles firmly back,
would he take up the offer of another year at Toyota?
You betcha.
An almost customary win in Monte Carlo kicked off Ogier's 2021 title defence in style,
and despite a scare in the Arctic,
victories in Croatia, Italy and Kenya
meant he was once again in pole position for a phenomenal eighth title.
However, the second half of the year, Ogier was a little less assured,
and his rivals began eating away at his lead.
This season, once again, would be decided at the final rally of the year in Monza.
And, once again, conditions were far from ideal.
The Frenchman was being pushed to the limit by a resurgent Elvin Evans.
Nevertheless, he held his nerve and grabbed hold of an incredible eighth world title.
But despite the temptation of being in touching distance of Seb Loeb's record of nine,
Ogier decided it was time to step back.
I just feel kind of empty right now because it's always an exhausting season.
We give so much importance to that.
Now competing in only a part-time season,
2025 began with Ogier taking a record-breaking tenth win at Rally Monte Carlo.
Now, by some distance we might add, the undisputed master of Monte.
His plan for the year was the same as it had been since he retired from full-time competition
at the end of 2021.
Enter a few rallies, win some, bank points for Toyota, jobs are good.
However, after yet another podium finish in Finland,
the championship title on a part-time schedule, remember, was now an achievable goal.
Ogier then committed to the remainder of the calendar,
and he won the very next event in Paraguay.
His post-stage interview sounded like the fire was most certainly back.
We'll keep winning and winning this championship.
Further wins in Chile and Japan were bookended by a mistake in Central Europe,
and that ensured that it was going to go down to the wire again.
But at the WRC's all-new final event of the year in Saudi Arabia,
his years of experience came to the fore,
as he did the business at this brand new rally to secure his record-equalling ninth world title.
He was already great, he's now the joint greatest of all time.
The question is, will it be a tenth title next year?