Five seasons of raw speed, massive power, and wild swings of fortune have finally drawn to a close. It signed off with Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin taking the crown, the Welshman finally becoming world champion after a title fight that went down to Sardinia's final corners.
That closing chapter followed five years of immense technical shifts introduced in 2022 for the WRC's 50th season. A 100kW electric motor paired with a 1.6-litre turbocharged engine, pushing peak combined power past 500hp alongside 100 per cent sustainable fuel and a new tubular safety cell.
Right from the start, the machines delivered absolute theater. Nine-time world champion Sébastien Loeb (yes, that Sebastien Loeb) went head-to-head with Sébastien Ogier on the Monte-Carlo debut, taking victory for M-Sport-Ford after Ogier suffered a late puncture. At 47, Loeb became the oldest winner of a WRC round, while Isabelle Galmiche made history on her first top-level start by becoming the first woman to win a WRC event since 1997.
Soon, a driver at the opposite end of the age spectrum seized the spotlight. Kalle Rovanperä put the Toyota GR Yaris on top with blistering speed in tough conditions, taking six victories and securing his maiden title in New Zealand just one day after his 22nd birthday alongside Jonne Halttunen, making him the youngest world champion in WRC history. They backed it up with another crown in 2023.
Across the service park, the Ford Puma kept leaving its mark with Ott Tänak winning on Sweden's snow and Chile's gravel in 2023, while Adrien Fourmaux banked five podiums the following year. Mārtiņš Sesks stunned everyone on his home appearance in Latvia in 2024, fighting for a podium on his second Rally1 outing before a transmission problem on the final test denied him third. Hyundai's i20 N also served up fierce battles, including Tänak snatching victory in Sardinia in 2024 by just 0.2sec after a final-stage puncture for Ogier, equalling the narrowest winning margin in WRC history.
For Thierry Neuville and co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe, the breakthrough came in Japan later in 2024 after five championship runner-up finishes. Meanwhile, Toyota overturned Hyundai's advantage in the manufacturers' championship on the final Wolf Power Stage to win by just three points.
Regulations shifted for 2025 as hybrid units were dropped, minimum weight fell by 80kg to 1180kg, and a smaller air restrictor maintained the power-to-weight ratio. Oliver Solberg and Elliott Edmondson immediately won on their Toyota Rally1 debut in Estonia after just two days of testing. Finland then proved the machinery's terrifying speed, with Rovanperä claiming a home victory at an average speed of 129.9kph, the fastest rally in WRC history. Later that season, Ogier and Vincent Landais clinched the world titles, allowing Ogier to equal Loeb's record of nine drivers' crowns.
The final campaign brought fresh winners in Sami Pajari and Takamoto Katsuta, before setting up a frantic finale in Sardinia. Evans stopped to change a punctured tyre on the penultimate stage, leaving the championship wide open. Solberg led on the splits before running off the road two corners from the finish, handing Evans and Martin the crown after five previous runner-up finishes. Solberg still won the rally, delivering the GR Yaris Rally1 its 48th victory and securing a clean sweep of all five manufacturers' championships for Toyota across the era.
